Stories from Hyrule
by Castiel-Fan
Summary: Experience the funniest, the most emotional, the most action-packed, the darkest and even the most brutal adventures Link has experienced during his journey through Hyrule (and through Termina). Curious? Then just take a look (TLOZ One-Shot Collection).
1. Foreword (please read)

**The important things first:**  
 **I DON'T OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA! ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO NINTENDO AND THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS OF THE GAME!**

Hello and welcome to my The Legend of Zelda One-Shot Collection.  
I am very happy that you are looking into it and I hope you will find something which you will like.

Before it starts, I would like to point out a few small but important things:

 **From what worlds are the One Shots?  
  
** I am writing from the Ocarina of Time World, the Majora's Mask World and the Twilight Princess World.  
I don't know Breath of the Wild (yet) and therefore I won't be writing for it  
(at least not before I got to play the game, but sadly this won't be happening before 2018).  
When it comes to the other games: I only know the Mangas ;).

 **What kind of stories do you find here?**

I write for almost all kinds of stories, preferably funny stories, emotional stories, from time to time dark and action-packed stories as well and I have a love for tickle stories (but I would like to point out that I distance myself from any kind of sexual or fetish related stuff when it comes to tickle stories; let it be Zelda related tickle stories or all the other tickle stories which I have posted here already!). The only thing which I don't like at all and what I **don't** write are Yaoi stories and sexual stories in general. Also, I don't write any over-brutal stories, like cutting heads and limbs off and something like that (This isn't Dead Space guys ;P). If this is what you are looking for, then I must unfortunately disappoint you, because you will **NOT** find this here. As for romantic stories: I'm not a big fan of this either, but I have my exceptions . But I have only two pairings that I like. I like LinkXMalon very much and I am a fan of LinkXMidna (the two however only in a purely friendly relationship). Oh and I love to write about Navi, especially if she teases Link a bit, so don't be surprised if you find a lot of Navi teasing Link moments in my OOT stories ;).

 **Rating**

This One-Shot collection is rated "T" just to be on the safe side, since I am going to share a few not so harmless/bloody stories here too ;)

And this is so far everything you need to know :).

Maybe you should also know that english isn't my first language and that you will find some small mistakes here and there.  
Most stories I have translated from german into english, others I have written in english only.  
Just for your information ;).

I would be very happy if you take a look at my stories and if you like something, then please don't be shy and share your opinion with me in the reviews.  
I would like to find more Zelda fans on here. And besides: I won't bite you ;P.

And now have fun browsing through my stories^^.


	2. Conquer the Darkness in you (OOT)

_I would like to start my one-shot collection with this story._  
 _It's the first part of a three-parted mini-series which I have written in the past months and it's pretty dark._

 _I hope you will enjoy it :)_

* * *

 **Conquer the Darkness in you**

As the heavy iron door closed behind him, he slid down to the ground. He leaned his head against the door and closed his eyes, trying to soothe his breathing and his heartbeat.

His little fairy Navi flew excitedly around his head and he could practically _feel_ her worried look on his body.

"Link! Is everything alright with you?"

The young hero opened one of his eyes and his lips twisted into a pain-distorted grin.

"I have never felt better."

Navi just knew that these words were a clear lie, but she didn't say anything because she knew how stubborn Link could be about his physical condition and she also knew that he didn't want her to worry about him. But she could see through his hard facade, could see how bad he felt and how weak he was...

Link closed his eyes again and took a deep breath.

Never in his life would he would have thought that the water temple would rob him of his strength like that.

There were not only a lot of nerve-racking puzzles to solve, but also opponents who were hard to fight. Above all the Like-Like on the other side of the door, through which he had just come, had given him a hard time and Link had taken a long time to kill it. The battles before had already weakened him and the many small wounds on his body now seemed to take their toll on him.

He was all the more astonished when he opened his eyes again and looked at the room in which he was now.

In front of him, as well as to his sides, there was a great emptiness, which was wrapped in mist. There was only a small island in the middle, on which stood a knotty, old tree and a wall that was directly behind it and showed him the way to another room of the temple.

"We should go Link."

"I know, just...let me rest a little. Just a little break until I feel a bit better. Then we can continue our journey."

"I know you need a break, but I don't like this room. I feel something, a dark aura that surrounds us and don't you feel like someone is watching us?"

Link didn't answer her.

He pulled a bottle of fresh Lon-Lon milk out of his pocket and allowed himself a sip and shortly afterwards he could feel the power coming back into his body again.

"There is nothing Navi. We're all alone here."

He didn't say more, but even if he didn't admit it out loud, he also felt this strange dark aura, which surrounded him and his fairy, but he didn't mind it that much. This temple was cursed and he could feel that in every corner of it and the feeling that came over him here was surely nothing else.

But the unpleasant tingling in his stomach didn't disappear.

Not even then, when he had rested enough and got up to his feet again.

His eyes searched the area, but he saw nothing but water, mist and the island that was in the middle of this strange room.

 _Calm down Link, here is nothing_ , he tried to calm himself down, but at this point he doubted his own thoughts.

"Come on, Navi. Let's go. The faster we leave this place, the better it is."

"That's what I am trying to tell you the whole time, but you wanted to take a break!"

"Okay, okay, calm down. I got it. We're leaving now."

"Best as soon as possible!"

Link rolled his eyes and decided to keep his mouth shut.

He stowed away the bottle and stood up and together with his fairy he made himself on the way for the other side of the room, but as soon as his feet touched the water that filled the room and that went to his ankles, the strange feeling to be observed, was back and it made him shudder. Once again he let his gaze wander through the room, looking to the left, to the right, upwards and finally down, but only his own reflection returned his gaze.

"Come on Link, hurry! I want to leave!"

The hero raised his head and raised an eyebrow as he saw that Navi had already reached the island that was in the middle of the room and the fear of the little fairy also made him nervous.

He accelerated his steps, ran through the water, crossed the island and ran over to the door through which he had to go, but when he reached it, disillusionment hit him, for the door was closed with heavy iron bars that couldn't be opened by hand.

"What? What is that? Here is nothing and no one! Why is this door locked?"

The little fairy also looked at the door from all sides, but she also found no switch to open it.

She was about to say something, but a dark laugh held her back.

"What's the matter, hero? Is your way blocked?"

Link spun around and he drew his sword during the turn, but it seemed to him that the one, who owned that dark voice was not intimidated by that, for the dark laughter repeated itself.

"Just look at you: Holding the Master Sword in your hands like the great hero who was prophesied to this country. Let me ask you this, hero: How do you want to fight something that you can't even see?"

Link ignored the mocking words and he instead looked at his fairy.

"Navi. What is this? Can you see something?"

"No, I don't see anything, but I can feel his power. Be careful Link, he is very powerful. He uses the powers of the shadow world..."

"I like your fairy. I think I'll make her to my best friend once I've made sure your blood colors the water in this temple red."

Navi whimpered because of the dark words and quickly snuggled against Link's neck, who stroked her tender wings with his fingers to calm her down.

"Don't listen to him. He will not kill me."

"Don't be so sure about that, Hero of Time! You don't know with what kind of opponent you have to deal with here. I'm more terrible than anything you've ever seen! "

"For someone who is more terrible than anything I've ever seen, you're talking too much. Why don't you come out of your hiding-place and show yourself to me?"

"Oh, I don't need to do that, because I'm not hiding from you. Your eyes just can't see through the fog that conceals the truth from you."

An icy breeze ran over Link's neck, causing him to get goosebumps.

"I'm very close to you," said the voice right next to his ear and Link whirled around and swung his sword, but the sacred blade only cut through another mist cloud.

"Stop these games and show yourself to me so we can finish this!"

"Finish this? But we haven't even started yet. You're not even able to see me, then how will you be able to defeat me? I see each of your steps, hear each of your breaths and I can feel the fear in your heart. It would be easy for me to kill you right now, but you should get a fair chance to die with the sword in your hand. Look down hero..."

The last three words he spoke so darkly that Link felt a shiver running down his spine and only hesitantly he looked down. The sight that greeted him there almost let the blood in his veins freeze. He saw his reflection, but it didn't belong to him anymore. It was black as the night, looking at him from eyes, red as jewels from the deepest depths of hell itself. His lips graced a broad and mocking grin and before Link could get a single tone over his lips, the dark creature attacked him with its sword. The young Hylian could escape the sword just in time, as he jumped backwards and landed on the ground a few meters away. Immediately he came back to his feet again, holding his shield in front of him and the sword in the other hand, ready to attack.

The dark form dissolved from the water before his eyes and manifested itself into a man.

To a man who looked just like him, but any color was missing from his body.

Link could only see darkness that mocked him from red sparkling eyes.

"What in the name of the gods...?! Navi, what is that?"

"I-I don't know. It looks like you, but...I only feel darkness..."

The shadow creature grinned and slowly walked over to Link, who then stepped back several steps from him.

"Deep in your innermost heart you know the answer to your question already," spoke the Shadow with his dark voice and the scornful grin gave way to a serious expression.

"I am what you will never show to this world. I am the darkness that is dormant in your heart and I am what every human fears the most: I am the dark side of your soul..."

As these words left his lips, the Shadow slowly walked around Link and the young hero followed each of his steps with his eyes. Sweat had already gathered on his forehead and his muscles were tense as if they were about to tear any second. He clasped the handle of his sword so firmly that his knuckles had already turned white.

The dark side of his soul?

How could he fight this?

How should he fight against himself?

He had to give Ganondorf that: He really had a cruel sense of humor, if he was responsible for this Shadow-like creature that stood here in front of him and mocked him...

Still...this opponent wouldn't be any different from the ones he had already defeated!

"If you think you are superior to me then you thought wrong! You are nothing more than any other opponent that I have to conquer to get a step closer to my goal! The only difference between the monsters I've slain before and you is the size of your ego!"

Dark Link's eyes narrowed and Link had the feeling that they were shining stronger than before.

"If you really think that, then you're foolish. And your foolishness shall be your death."

And then the shadow attacked!

The attack came so quickly and surprisingly that Link had hardly time to react to it and before he knew what had happened, the blade of the Shadow's sword cut through his flesh and made him scream in pain. He lifted his shield, hit it against his chest and forced him back as he jumped back to get some distance between them.

The blade had cut through his right arm and the wound burned like pure fire and it was bleeding heavily, but he couldn't be distracted by that now.

Better his arm than his head...

The next attack struck him back and he barely got a chance for a counter-attack and when he attacked with his own sword, his Shadow simply copied the movement. He copied each of his attacks and Link wasn't able to hit him once.

His dark self, on the other hand, landed a few hits here and there, whenever Link let his guard down. He concentrated too much on landing a hit and thus forgot about his caution. The Shadow took advantage of it immediately and as soon as Link turned his back to him, he attacked with his sword and the blade left several bloody wounds on his back that burned like hellfire.

Navi could only watch the fight helplessly, because she had saved herself on top of the tree and watched the fight from there. Inwardly, she cursed herself for being so small and helpless, for in her small form she was no help at all. Whenever the Shadow inflicted another wound on her friend, she twitched as she could feel the pain on her own body. She wanted to help, wanted to save Link, but there was nothing she could do. She could only watch and hope that the Hero of Time wouldn't be killed by his dark clone...

"Is that all you can do?" The Shadow mocked him and his grin lightened the fire of anger in Link's stomach.

"Shut up," he shouted and he swung his sword again, but still he didn't land a single hit and slowly he started to despair. His attacks had become less and he concentrated much more on protecting his body from further injuries by blocking every single one of Dark Link's attacks with his shield, but he could feel how the strength vanished more and more from his body. Soon he would be at the end of his strength and that would be his death...

No!

He wouldn't let it come this far!

He had to fight!

Not only for his own life, but also for Navi, Princess Zelda and for all the people he had met during his travels and which had a special place in his heart.

If he were to die here, the fate of Hyrule would be sealed and that shouldn't be happen!

But how could he defeat an opponent who imitated all of his movements?

He had to come up with something quickly, otherwise he would be dead soon!

As if his Shadow could read his thoughts, he laughed as he parried the next attack.

"And someone like you wants to be the great hero who saves Hyrule? You can't even harm me! How do you want to save a whole kingdom then?"

The words cut deeper wounds into his body than a blade could ever have done it and the rage in Link's stomach took over.

With a battle cry, he thrust his sword forward... and only seconds later Dark Link was standing on the sword blade and looked down at him, mockingly.

"If you keep fighting like that you will never be able to defeat me..."

Before Link could react, his opponent jumped back from his sword and launched a counter-attack. Link parried the sword attack, but didn't expect his opponent to ram his fist into his stomach when he was close enough to him, hitting the air out of his lungs and forcing him to his knees.

"LINK WATCH OUT!" Navi screamed as she saw how Dark Link raised the sword for his final attack, that should cut Link's head from his shoulders, but the blond-haired Hylian managed to lean his head back at the very last moment and away from the deadly blade. The sword tip cut through his cheek as he blocked the next attack with his Hylian shield.

"...and slowly I'm starting to lose my patience with you!"

The words were followed by a strong punch right into his face, which made Link see stars exploding in front of his vision.

His head fell into the water that covered the floor and when he tried to get up again, a foot, which was now standing on his chest, pushed him down again.

His sword and shield were knocked out of his hands and Link couldn't even take his weapons again. He was too weak and the wounds that covered his body also robbed him of the last bit of his strength. When he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw his dark self, which gloomily looked down at him.

"I expected more from you."

He raised his dark blade and held it just above the spot where the hero's heart was beating.

"Hyrule should have put its hopes better in someone else. In someone who is worth being called a hero..."

He raised the sword for a last attack, but the Shadow didn't even get the chance to end his attack and kill Link, because Navi had flown down from her place on the tree and hit her dainty body with all her strength against Dark Link's face to prevent him from killing her friend. With success, for the Shadow cried out with rage and tried to hit her away from his face with his hand, but the little fairy managed to avoid his attacks. She whirled around his head, flying against his face over and over again, trying to save Link's life and actually Dark Link was so distracted that he didn't even notice that Link saw his chance and that he took advantage of it.

With the last remnant of his remaining powers, the hero managed to stand up and kick his opponent into that spot where it hurt a man the most!

Almost immediately the Shadow went to his knees and pressed his hands against said spot.

"Can't copy that attack, huh?"

One eye was squeezed shut with pain, the other looked hateful up to Link, who had stood up again and took his sword and raised it to attack, but before he managed to strike and end the fight, Dark Link dissolved into emptiness and disappeared.

"You will pay for that! When we meet the next time, I'll first kill your fairy and let you watch, before I cut your life out of your own body! Rely on it! And we _will_ meet again hero, be sure about that!"

And then there was silence in the room, which was interrupted only by the sound of the door that opened now. The heavy iron bars disappeared and cleared the way, but Link didn't want to leave the room now. His legs were too weak to be able to carry him any longer and so he simply dropped to the ground. The fog around him lightened and the island with the tree on it disappeared, until he lay in a large empty room. The only thing that was witness to the fight were the numerous wounds on his body that robbed him of all his strength.

When Navi sat down on his chest and looked at him, the sight gave her a stab in her heart.

Link was breathing heavily, his eyes were squeezed shut and his jaw clenched, in the desperate attempt to bear the pain. When Navi looked at his body, she shuddered. His blue zora tunic was cut and torn in many places, showing the extent of the cruel fight in the form of bleeding wounds. Some of the wounds were deep and the Hero whimpered with pain whenever he moved.

"No Link. Stay down," the fairy said, as she saw Link and how he was trying to sit up.

"W-we...we have to go Navi...no time...for any more breaks..." the hero gasped and again he tried to get up.

Navi flew gently against his forehead, gently trying to push him down, which she actually managed to do, because Link's muscles were simply too weak to keep his body upright and he just let himself fall back onto the ground.

"No Link. You need a break. Stay here and rest a bit. If you feel better, we'll go on. You won't be able to keep fighting like this."

He answered her with a small smile and closed his eyes and tried to relax his muscles somewhat so that the pain would vanish a bit.

What would he be without Navi?

He owed his life to this brave little fairy.

If she hadn't been, he would be dead now and Hyrule would be doomed.

If they were to survive this, he would thank her for what she had done for him today.

Because he owed this to his little friend, who had fought like a true knight today…

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 _I still remember my very first encounter with Dark Link._

 _Actually it was my dad's first encounter with Dark Link, since he was playing OOT while I was watching him and boy, was my dad cursing during this battle XD. I myself fared no better a few years later when I played this game myself and I always hated this mid-boss in the game. But with the years I started to love the character "Dark Link" a lot when I started to think about the reason why they put such an enemy into the game. Even if we don't know anything about him, I find him very, very interesting and there is so much room for our own theories and stories about him- It's just amazing what they did there. Since then Dark Link is one of my most favorite Characters of all the Zelda Games (and Ocarina of Time still is my most favorite Zelda Game)_

 _I have already seen a lot of theories about him and liked them and I also have my own theory._

 _I think he is just the dark side of Link's soul, which showed up in the water temple as some kind of test for Link and if Link has the courage to fight the darkness that lives within his heart. I can also imagine that Link will never be able to defeat Dark Link, since you can't "kill" the darkness that is hidden in all our hearts. I think Link would have to get killed too, so that Dark Link finally dies, since Dark Link is a part of Link's soul. And I can also imagine that Dark Link shows up in the future to fight against Link once again._


	3. You can't flee from the Darkness (OOT)

_And here is the sequel to my story "Conquer the darkness in you".  
Pretty dark story again and yes, even I felt sorry for Link after I finished writing this story and read over it again.  
But the third part will be much more light-hearted, I promise ;)  
_

* * *

 **You can't flee from the darkness**

Horse hoofs were heard, which moved quickly through Hyrule Field and wherever the mare ran along, the small inhabitants of the field quickly hid from her powerful hoofs.

Epona ran as fast as she could and at the same time she was as careful as she could to not lose her rider, who held onto her back with difficulty and who was hardly conscious.

Link looked terrible.

He had finally managed to free the water temple from its curse, but he had almost paid for it with his life. The fight with his dark counterpart had deprived him of all his strength and he had left the fight with horrible looking wounds. His fairy Navi hadn't been able to do much for him and she had been very happy when Princess Ruto had found both of them in that room, because she had helped Link, had taken care of his wounds and stopped the bleeding as good as she could. And not only that, but she had also helped him fighting the demon, who had been responsible for all the suffering in Lake Hylia and Zora's realm. Together, they had defeated him and thus broke the curse of the water temple, but since Ruto was a Sage, she couldn't help Link any longer and thus the hero was back on his own.

He had still managed to call Epona and pull himself onto her back as the last bit of his strength had vanished from his body.

And now he was sitting on her and had the greatest trouble to hold onto her white mane as she galloped as fast as she could through the field.

Link didn't know where she led him and it didn't matter to him at that moment, because he wanted only one thing: sleep...

"Link! Open your eyes! Don't fall asleep!"

Navi's voice was full of concern and he tried to keep his eyes open, but he barely managed to do so. The pain in his body was too big, just as it was the exhaustion and he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep, even if he knew that this could be a fatal mistake, for he would close his eyes now, he didn't know if he would open them ever again...

"I can't Navi..." he whispered and his head sank against the neck of his horse and the grip around her mane became looser.

He almost fell from the horse, if the mare hadn't stopped her pace.

"We're almost there. Hold on…"

Epona walked right into the direction of the Lon Lon Ranch.

It was already early evening, because the sun began to dive the country into its red light.

At this time all the inhabitants of the farm gathered in the barn and the mare ran right into the direction of it.

When she had arrived, she hit the stable door with her front hoof over and over again and whinnied to direct the attention onto herself and it wasn't long before the door opened and Malon looked up at her in astonishment.

"Epona? What are you doing here?"

"Malon! Please help us!"

Navi fluttered nervously around her head before flying back to Link and flying around his head and Malon's heart skipped a beat as she had finally discovered him. He had fainted on his horse and was no longer clinging to her mane and he was about to fall off of Epona's back and to the ground if Malon hadn't been at his side and held him up.

"FATHER! INGO! Come outside! Fast!"

When they heard Malon's excited shouts, the two men immediately stopped their work and ran outside, where Malon was already waiting for them. Fear and worry were also reflected in her eyes and when Ingo and Talon looked at Epona's back, they also knew why.

They helped her to lift Link from the horse and to put him carefully onto the ground.

The young man no longer moved nor opened his eyes and it almost looked as if he was no longer alive, but Talon took away the tension when he put his hand onto the hero's chest and felt his heart beating, telling Ingo and Malon that he was still alive.

"What happened to him?"

Malon looked at Navi and the little fairy could see tears shining in her eyes.

"I'll tell you later. Please...help him..."

"We will. Ingo. Bring me a bucket of cold water. The boy has high fever and you Malon, get me as many bandages as you can carry. We have to take care of his wounds," Talon said as he started freeing Link from his torn Zora tunic. Cautiously he loosened the straps that held his shield and sword on his back and he put both aside, before he pulled the clothes over his head to expose his upper body and the sight of his exposed upper body shocked him.

"By the gods!" the farmer said as he saw all the horrible wounds that Link had gotten in the water temple. As he turned him onto his side and saw the wounds on his back, it gave him a stab into his heart.

Link was still so young and had already experienced so much suffering.

What was wrong with the gods to impose such a heavy burden on him, which he had to carry all alone?

"Ingo, go to Malon and get the bandages. I don't want her to see this," he ordered, as Ingo stood by his side again and put the bucket of cold water next to him.

He nodded silently before he disappeared into the house.

"We will do what we can, little fairy. But in the end it's up to Link to get back onto his feet..."

When the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, Link had been taken to Malon's room and they had put him into her bed and had covered him with a warm blanket. They had put a cold cloth onto his forehead and Malon had tried to give him some water, but he had not drunk anything when she had held the glass to his lips. Talon and Ingo had done a good job, had cleansed all his wounds and they also had stopped the bleeding, but the fever was still very high. Malon had been sitting next to him for hours and watched over him. She gently stroked his sweaty hair from his face, dipped the rag into the bucket of water that was next to the bed, and put it back onto his forehead.

"Oh Link. You have done so much for us and this kingdom. Don't let it end like that now..." she whispered with tears in her eyes and she stroked her fingers lovingly over his cheek.

"He'll get well Malon. I can feel it. You, your father and Ingo have done a very good job..."

A faint smile appeared on the farm girl's face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"You should go to sleep as well Malon. I'll take care of him."

"How can I sleep when I know that he is in such a bad condition?"

"You can't do anything more for him Malon. Your father is right: Link must make it on his own now. You did what was in your power."

"And if he dies while I sleep? I would never forgive myself!"

"He will not die. Don't you feel his powerful heartbeat? Just a few hours ago, you could barely feel his heart beat, but now it is as strong and calm as ever. He is on the road to recovery. Tomorrow morning the world will look much better for him."

Maybe Navi was right?

Maybe it would be much better the next morning and he would wake up again?

And Malon really couldn't do much in this situation, because she and her father and Ingo had already done everything they could. Link had to go the rest of this way all alone.

Still, she stood up reluctantly and one last time she stroked his cheek, bent her head down and put her forehead against his.

"Don't die fairy boy. Otherwise I will get really angry at you..." she whispered so softly that you could hardly hear it and she gave him a gentle kiss on his cheek, before she went out of the room.

Navi stayed behind and she settled down on Link's chest.

"Get well soon Link...please..."

It had become quiet in the house when the night had laid itself over Hyrule.

Malon, Talon, and Ingo slept deeply and even from the stable you couldn't hear the slightest noise. Not even from Epona, for the mare had been so exhausted that she almost fell asleep immediately when she had calmed down.

Navi also slept deeply and firmly and none of them noticed the movement in Link's body.

His eyes didn't open, but he began to twist back and forth in his bed.

His body was still sweaty and a low moan broke out of his throat, which showed that he was suffering from nightmares.

When he had the feeling that his heart would break his ribs every moment, he opened his eyes in terror and breathed heavily, trying to find the orientation again. It took him a while to realize that he was no longer in the water temple. He was lying in a soft bed, covered with a warm blanket, his wounds wrapped with bandages and on his forehead he felt a rag that was almost dry by now.

He wanted to say something, but no word left his dry throat.

His eyes were rigid with fear and his body began to tremble as he looked around the room and could only see darkness.

Just a few days ago he wouldn't have been scared by a dark room, but that was before he had met the demon who had done all of this to him...

As his eyes wandered into one of the corners of the room, he thought his heart would stop beating when he saw the pair of red glowing eyes, watching him from out of the darkness. Then a shadow broke away from the darkness and came towards him. Next to the bed he stopped and he looked mockingly down at the hero of Hyrule, who returned his gaze with fear-widened eyes.

"I told you that we'll meet again..." the Shadow said with that dark voice that made Link shiver.

He tried to get up, but he was too weak and instead, his hand reached for the Master Sword, which was leaning next to the bed at the little side table, but before his fingers could close around the sword handle, Dark Link was already over him, grabbing his hand and squeezing his wrist painfully.

"You shouldn't even think of that," the Shadow growled and his red eyes seemed to burn into Link's soul.

He raised Link's arm over his head and held it there, before letting his eyes wander over the young Hylian's body. When he spotted Navi, who still slept peacefully on Link's chest, a grin spread across Dark Link's face.

"Do you remember my words? I told you that I will let you watch how I kill your fairy right in front of your eyes."

His hand reached for Navi, who couldn't even scream as he closed his fingers tightly around her dainty body and squeezed her.

"And that's exactly what I'm going to do now. I hope you will enjoy the sight…hero..."

Link wanted to scream, wanted to save Navi from the claws of this monster, but he couldn't even free his hand. He could barely lift his still free arm, let alone hit the demon and so his fingers clawed into the black tunic of his dark counterpart and pulled half-heartedly at the fabric, which only made his Shadow laugh and his fingers closed around Navi more and more and he forced Link to watch helplessly as the light of the fairy slowly went out, as she slowly died in the grip of the demon...

A single tear ran over Link's cheek when Navi's light was completely extinguished and Dark Link dropped her dead body like a piece of garbage.

But he couldn't even mourn for her, for the demon was over him within seconds, now holding both of his hands over his head and pinning them onto the mattress with one hand. His still free hand reached behind him and he pulled out a dagger that had been stuck in his belt.

"Don't worry, you'll soon follow her into the realm of the dead..."

As the demonic blade cut into his skin, a loud scream came out of his throat and he arched his back as the pain took over his body. Blood soon wetted the sheet under him, dripping to the ground and all the time, Dark Link laughed as he tortured him and shed more of his blood.

"You can't escape the darkness Link. I will always remain a part of you. Whenever you see your own reflection, you will also be able to see me in it and one day you will be dominated by darkness. Then, when you lose control of yourself and your mind, I will take over your soul and together we will show Hyrule what fear really means..."

Link's loud screams continued to echo throughout the house, mixed with the malicious laughter of his tormentor, who enjoyed every tiny second of his suffering as if it was the sweetest honey on earth.

Even then, when it went black in front of Link's eyes…

"Link? Link! By the gods! Wake up!"

This voice…

It sounded as if it came from far away.

It sounded so familiar to him and he tried to cling to this voice, tried to find a way out of the darkness by following it and he miserably failed at it, when the demon cut a new wound into his body that made him scream once again.

What Link didn't know was that all of that what he saw and what he felt didn't correspond to reality. It were hallucinations, caused by his fever.

He tossed around in the bed wildly, screaming loudly and flailed his legs and arms around. Talon and Ingo stood next to the bed, trying to grab Link's flailing arms and legs and pin them onto the bed. Malon stood a little off the bed and tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched Link fighting for his life. Navi was sitting on her shoulder and she wrapped herself in silence, but Malon knew that she couldn't stand this sight as well.

"Calm down my boy," Talon said, as he had managed to press Link's upper body against his own and hold him tight. He pressed him tightly against his chest with one arm and gently stroked the back of his head with the other, whispering soothing words into his ear, while Ingo had managed to pin his legs onto the mattress and hold onto them.

"Shhh, calm down Link. Everything is alright. You only dreamed. Nothing you've seen is real. Open your eyes and see for yourself that everything is all right. We're with you and we will take care of you my boy..."

And indeed the young Hylian calmed down a bit.

His muscles relaxed, just as his facial features did and soon he hung limp and exhausted in Talon's arms, who gently laid him back into the pillows and finally Link opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Talon? Is that you?" he whispered softly and the farmer nodded his head, smiling softly and stroking his sweaty hair out of his face.

"Yes. Ingo, Malon and Navi are here as well. You're safe."

Navi flew from Malon's shoulder and into Link's direction and when he saw her, the boy's eyes filled with tears and he gently pressed her against his cheek as she was about to settle down on his chest, crying like a little child. He didn't matter for that in the slightest at that moment, because for him only his friend mattered and he was so glad to see that she was alive and that she was doing well.

"Oh Navi, I was so scared for you..." he sobbed heart-wrenching.

"Shhh. You don't have to be afraid. I'm fine," she whispered and she snuggled a little more to his cheek and shared her warmth with him.

"I thought I'd lost you forever..."

She shuddered as these words left his lips and she didn't even want to think about the terrible things he had seen.

"You will not lose me Link. I will stay with you."

He wiped the tears from his face, but without success, for they ran tirelessly over his cheeks as he could hardly stop crying.

"I can't do all of this anymore. It's just too much for me..."

"Shhhh, calm down. Don't think of this now."

"I can't Navi. I just can't do it anymore…"

And it was at this moment when everyone could see how heavy the burden was Link had to carry and it would become heavier and heavier and slowly the hero began to break under that load. The physical wounds were not even as bad as the mental wounds that had been inflicted on him during his long journey and no one knew how long his soul could still withstand all that pain.

What were the gods thinking of putting their hopes into this boy, who was just a kid and who had to save a whole kingdom all on his own?

In the end Link wouldn't be no more than a child who had been sent into death by the gods.

And even if he would survive all of this, he would only be a shadow of himself and sooner or later he would fall into madness...

 **To be continued...  
**


	4. A friend like you (OOT)

_And here is the third part of my little Dark Link series and it's the last part of it._  
 _And, as promised, this one is much more light-hearted ;)._

 _And I agree with you PokemonTrainer12._  
 _I can only imagine how much the Majora's Mask Link must have suffered after his adventures in Termina..._

* * *

 **A friend like you**

Several days had passed and Link recovered slowly but surely from the terrible wounds, which he had gotten in the water temple.

Malon, Talon and Ingo had taken good care of him during these days.

They had ensured that his wounds were always clean and well patched up, had ensured that he ate and drank enough and Link felt much better by now.

Still, it could be seen that he hadn't gotten much sleep these days, because often he didn't seem to be present when someone spoke to him and whenever he heard a noise outside, he winced and the naked fear sparkled in his blue eyes.

They all knew that he was suffering from cruel nightmares at night and it seemed as if these nightmares continued to haunt him, because sometimes Link stared into a corner of the room and whenever he did so, his body began to tremble terribly. And he also avoided looking at all the things that reflected him, because it seemed as if he was even afraid of his own reflection...

In all this time, Navi didn't leave him for a second and whenever she could see fear in Link's bright blue eyes, she calmed him down as good as she could and assured him that nothing and no one was with them in the room. But the hero told her nothing about the things he thought he could see, or what terrible things hunted him in his nightmares.

And if Navi was honest, she didn't want to know about it.

The only thing she was interested in was that Link was getting better and she wanted to see him laugh again and not so depressed and frightened as he was at the moment. It broke her heart to see him suffering so much and not be able to do anything about it. Even Malon had not managed to change his condition.

But Navi wouldn't leave anything untried to bring a little smile to his face and she knew that Malon was trying the same, because she could see how much she was suffering herself to see Link in this bad state.

Today, Navi swore, she would give Link his smile back!

And she would start with this right away.

After all, she wouldn't be his friend if she didn't leave anything untried to change his condition at least a bit and so she set her plan to work. She flew over to the bed where the hero lay and slept...well, not really slept. He had his eyes closed and was dozing a little, but he didn't really sleep.

Why, Navi didn't know, but she didn't like it that Link was afraid of falling asleep.

"If you think that I leave you lying in this bed for one more day, then you thought wrong. Come on, lazybones. Get out of the bed!"

Yes, that was the Navi which he knew since seven years...

Link didn't answer and didn't move though.

He didn't even open his eyes and that was something which could drive Navi mad. If there was something she hated, then it was to be ignored!

But on the other hand, she knew how she could change this behavior of his...

She flew over to Link's head and pulled at his ear, which didn't make the hero get up, but he muttered something to himself and he carefully pushed Navi away with his hand and pulled the blanket over his head.

Oh yes, that was really the behavior of a hero...

"You're worse than a little child. And someone like you really wants to be a hero? Don't make me laugh!"

A grumble was heard under the covers.

Something that made Navi grin.

"Leave me alone..." Link muttered underneath the blanket.

"Oh, what is that? It can talk."

Navi could practically _feel_ how Link rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything and didn't move anymore and for him the "conversation" seemed to be finished now, but for Navi it wasn't. Oh no. She hadn't even begun yet...

She let her gaze wander over his body, until her eyes stopped at his feet, which peered out from under the blanket and which were a perfect target for further teasing. Without thinking about it, she flew to said body parts and she brushed her wingtips over his soles, which made her friend grumble once again and Link pulled his feet quickly under the covers to protect them from further "attacks". He heard his cheeky fairy giggle and shook his head slightly, but he couldn't help but smile at her attempts to get him out of the bed.

Before the situation escalated, Malon, who knocked at the door and then stepped into the room, saved him.

"What's going on here?" he heard her ask and Navi giggled again and of course she told her of his "un-hero-like behavior" and that he behaved more like a little child than the great hero of Hyrule.

"Aww come on, Navi. Don't be so hard to him. It is nice if he leaves his inner child out of himself every now and then. Am I right Link?"

The smile on his lips broadened and he nodded silently with his head, which no one could see, as his head was still hidden under the blanket.

"What did you do to him Navi?"

"I just wanted him to get up and get some fresh air. He has been lying around in bed for three days. He should get up now."

Malon looked over at Link and a small smile spread over her face.

"Maybe your little fairy is right and you should really get up. Today is a beautiful day. Come to the paddock, sit down there and enjoy the beautiful weather. This will do you good. Your wounds heal very well, your fever is gone and you have to move a bit. And besides, Epona misses you. She'll be happy if you spend a little time with her and when she can be close to you."

With her words, Malon seemed to have hit the bull's eye, for Link moved under the covers and pulled them off his head. He gave the young farm girl such a beautiful smile, that her knees became like pudding and before he could see the soft blush on her cheeks, she turned her face away from him, pretending to put his clothes over the chair that stood in the room and which she had washed for him the evening, when he had been lying unconscious in bed.

"I really appreciate what you, your father and Ingo did for me."

A soft smile spread across Malon's face and when she was sure that her face was no longer under fire, she turned to him and looked at him, still smiling.

"That was nothing Link, really."

She stepped to his side and helped him to sit up in the bed.

As he took her hand carefully into his, her cheeks glowed red within seconds, which made not only him grin, but also Navi. But his look quickly became serious again and he squeezed her hand lightly.

"I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't helped me. Probably I would have died. I can't thank you enough for what you have done. You've saved my life."

"No Link. Your fairy has saved your life..."

The Hylian twitched slightly as Malon said these words and when memories flooded through his mind.

Terrible memories...

"She told me what happened and how you got all these terrible wounds. _She_ has saved your life."

"How would it be if we agreed that we saved him all and that he owes us something from now on?" Navi tried to lighten the situation again, as she saw that Link had problems with the whole conversation. And she even managed to defuse the situation, for a small smile spread over his face again and Malon smiled too, squeezed his hand lightly, before pulling back from him; still with fire red cheeks.

"I've got you fresh clothes. Basil gave me one of his old shirts and an old trouser which you can wear, because I don't think your own clothes are appropriate. They narrow you in and only unnecessarily irritate your wounds. When you're done, come down. We then go together to the horse-paddock. Epona is already waiting for you there..."

And then she left the room and left Link and Navi alone...

Ten minutes later, Link stood outside the house and Malon was back by his side and she supported him. The wounds still weakened him and his muscles ached painfully and since he had only been lying in bed for three days, he had problems walking in the beginning, but it didn't take long until he could walk better and Malon could release his arms (even if she did it very reluctantly).

As they entered the paddock, Epona came to them immediately and she pressed her nostrils cautiously against Link's neck, which made him giggle as the horse's hair tickled his skin. He gently stroked her neck and closed his eyes.

"Oh, Epona. I also have to thank you. You brought me here."

She snorted as an answer, lowered her head and pushed her nostrils against his waist, which made him and also Malon laugh.

"I think she noticed that I hid a few sugar cubes in your pocket."

A soft laugh broke loose from Link's throat and he reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out three sugar cubes, which he gave his mare. To thank him, she pressed her nostrils against his head, nibbling carefully on his blond hair, which made Navi and Malon laugh because it looked just too funny.

"I've missed you too, my girl," he laughed and he gently pressed the head of the mare away from his and stroked his hair out of his face.

"I think she wants you to go out for a ride with her," Malon said.

Link's gaze became a little sad and he stroked her muscular neck lovingly.

"I would love to go out for a ride with you, but I can't do that yet. I am sorry…"

He let his fingers glide through her white mane and with the other hand he scratched the spot on the side of her neck.

"But as soon as I'm better, we'll make a long ride through Hyrule Field, I promise you, and as long as we're here you can play with the other horses."

As if she understood him (and sometimes Link believed that she really could) she whinnied before turning back and trotting back to the other horses. Link looked at her, smiling, before he turned around and went to the small covered place to put himself in the shade. Malon took a seat beside him, and Navi sat comfortably on his shoulder and silently they watched her for a while as Epona played with the other horses that were on the pasture.

"It's so beautiful here..." he whispered softly, but Malon and Navi had heard it.

The young farm girl gently touched his hand as she could see a hint of melancholy in his eyes.

"You miss your home, don't you?" she asked and he could hear slight worry in her voice.

Link nodded with his head and sighed.

"It's been a long time since I was in Kokiri Forest. When I returned months ago, none of them recognized me. How should they? Kokiris don't grow and never grow older. I, on the other hand, have grown older. I've changed so much that none of them recognized me...not even Mido..."

"Mido?"

Again, a small smile spread across Link's face, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"When I was a child, he always annoyed me and sometimes also hurt me with his words. I had been an outsider at that time, since I was the only one who didn't have an own fairy."

"But you have Navi?"

"I came to him much later. The Great Deku Tree sent me to him when he was about to start his journey. Before that I lived in the lost woods. But do you know what Malon?"

"No, what?"

The little fairy grinned and she sat down on Link's head.

"Better late than never. I'm very glad I got to know this thickhead here."

"Hey! Who do you call a thickhead here? "

"Well, you."

Link felt her grin practically on his body and a growl left his throat.

"Wouldn't you sit on my head..."

"Then what? What would you do then?"

"You don't want to know that."

"Uhhh, now I got scared."

The hero rolled with his eyes, but couldn't get rid of that small grin anymore when he heard Malon giggle beside him, who watched him and Navi silently and amused at the same time.

"You have to see her when we are together in a temple. I only say one thing: Forest Temple."

"So what? I didn't do anything to you."

"You didn't want to stop telling me I should be quiet."

"If you walk through the temple like a Dodongo!"

"Not true! I was as quiet as I could!"

"If this is your truth, then Ganondorf is a woman from now on!"

Malon couldn't stop giggling as she looked at them.

And finally, Link's lips twitched up into a wide smile, which also reached his eyes. It was just so nice to see him smile again and being so happy and cheerful. And just in that moment she also noticed how much she had missed his smile...

Finally the Link was back, which she had met seven years ago.

In the last three days, he had been like a stranger to her, especially when he had awakened from a nightmare at night, screaming loudly then. But even now she could still see in his eyes that he couldn't let himself fall completely. There still was something that bothered him and that wouldn't let him rest. He hadn't talked about his nightmares that haunted him every night and she knew he was suffering badly from it.

And she just couldn't stand it anymore!

She wanted him to laugh again and that he would be happy again.

And she would make sure that she got back this Link.

And Navi had already made the start...

"Link?"

Malon's voice tore the hero out of his "quarrels" with his fairy and when he turned his head and looked at her, the grin disappeared from his lips as he noticed Malon's stern gaze.

"Malon? What is wrong?"

"We have to talk about it," she said and she looked deeply into his eyes during her words.

"Talk about what?"

"About your nightmares. You haven't slept properly for days and if you sleep, then not for long. We all hear your screams in the middle of the night and we've all seen how much you suffer from these nightmares. It's time for you to talk about it. You can't deal with that all alone, because if you do so, it will get worse and worse and one day it will destroy you completely. None of us wants that. And I also know it won't be easy for you but please...talk about this Link..."

Her words made him shudder and he wanted to look away from her, but he didn't do it. He wanted to show strength and looked firmly into her eyes. Even Navi had become quiet. The cheerful mood had disappeared within a few seconds and had given away to the seriousness of life once again, but Malon was right with the words that had just left her lips. Link couldn't deal with it all alone. He had to tell someone his problems, had to talk about them and try to process it. Even if it wouldn't be easy for him, he knew Malon was right and it was time to open himself to her and also to Navi. She was his friend, just like Navi was and who if not his friends would listen to him and help him?

A sigh left the young hero's lips and his gaze went back to the horses. Shortly he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and then he began to tell her everything.

He told Malon everything that had happened in the water temple, told her about the terrible fight against his shadowy clone, told her about all the terrible wounds he had gotten during the battle, told her about Navi and how brave she had been when she had fought against that monster to save his life. He also told her about Ruto and how she had fought with him bravely against the demon of the water temple and how they had defeated him and how he had then been taken to the Lon Lon Ranch by Epona.

He paused for a moment, for what he would tell Malon and Navi now was not easy for him, since this had been tormenting his soul for days and robbed him of his sleep, but he had to talk about it. This was the only way to deal with it and to process it, so he took a deep breath again, before he began to tell his two friends about the terrible things he could see every night and which tortured him every night in the most dreadful way they could imagine.

When he had finished, there was silence between them and no one dared to break this silence. Too dark had been his words and neither Navi nor Malon found the right words they could now address to the boy.

Link kept looking away from them to hide the tears that had gathered in his eyes during his narration, for he was ashamed of his weakness. But no matter how much he fought against it, he couldn't do anything about his feelings. They were stronger than him and they just ran over him like a herd of wild horses and so he held his face away from the two, hiding his tears from them.

He winced as a hand was put on his, but he didn't dare to turn his head to Malon. He could feel her worried look practically in the back of his neck and that made it even worse for him.

"Link, please...look at me."

He squeezed his eyes shut, tried to suppress a sob and shook his head silently. He felt how the young woman moved closer to him and then he felt a hand on his chin and his head was gently turned to her. He allowed her to turn his head around, but kept his eyes closed. In this situation, he didn't want to look at Navi or Malon...

"Please Link...open your eyes," she said softly to him and after some moments of hesitation the hero opened his eyes a bit and looked at her.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. If you want to cry then cry. None of us would blame you. It was very courageous of you to tell us all of this and we will do everything we can to help you."

Link wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and gave the farm girl a small, if still sad smile.

"Thank you Malon. And you were right. I feel a bit better after I told you both what has been tormenting me for days."

Malon returned his smile and before Link could react, she had pulled him against her side and stroked him gently through his blond hair.

"We will do everything to make things better for you and soon you will be able to sleep without nightmares."

Navi flew up to him and she sat down onto his shoulder again and gently stroked his cheek with her wing, which broadened his smile.

"It's best to start right now," she said and her words aroused Link's and Malon's attention because they both looked at her expectantly.

"So? And how do you want to do that?" Link wanted to know and in his voice a slight hint of challenge was heard and a small, weak grin spread across his face.

"Quite simply: You have to learn to ridicule the things that torment you at night."

The hero raised an eyebrow and looked skeptically at his fairy.

"And you think that will help me?"

"Of course. I think it's the best thing if we start with this right now. You told us that you see your dark self every night, right?"

Link nodded silently with his head and a shudder passed through his body.

"So first you have to stop being afraid of him."

"This is easier said than done Navi."

"These are only dreams Link and there are people who can influence their dreams only by their will. I'm sure you can do that as well with some practice. So the next time he appears in your dreams, draw him into the ridiculousness. Make sure that he is only in underwear or something like that. Main thing is make him look as stupid as you can and you will see: In no time you will have the upper hand in this fight. You've defeated him before. You can do it a second time."

"Navi is right. If you manage to get control of your dreams, then you can defeat him and soon he will disappear."

"And if I can't do that?"

"You can do it! You've done so many crazy things already. You fought against so many terrible monsters. Even a dragon you defeated. You won't be afraid of your own shadow now, will you?"

"Well, he's not really my shadow..."

"It does not matter what he is. He's an idiot, and you'll kick his crown jewels a second time if you have to!"

And it was exactly these words that made Link laugh loudly and heartily after days and also Malon joined in his laughter when she just imagined this "fight".

Navi grinned as she looked at the two of them and how they had to cling to each other, laughing, not to fall from the wooden bench on which they sat. This was a sight that warmed her heart to the core and she enjoyed to see Link laughing so freely. She had missed this sight so much and she didn't want this moment to be over so quickly, so she kept talking to make her two friends laugh even harder.

"Oh yeah, you're gonna give him a fight he will never forget and when you are done with that, you'll wrap him up nicely, preferably with a nice looking loop on his head and then you'll send him to Ganondorf to show him what awaits him when he will meet you."

These pictures would probably never get out of his head ever again...

"Oh God, Navi, please...stop!" he laughed and he had to clutch his stomach with his arms already.

Even Malon wiped the first tears of laughter from her own eyes.

The little fairy's grin broadened and she flew from his shoulder and looked directly into his face as she addressed the next words to him.

"I know one more thing you could do to him. Something that works also on you."

She waited patiently until Link and Malon had calmed down again.

The laughter of the two died down and they had to wipe mirthful tears from their eyes before they gave Navi curious looks. At least Malon looked at her curiously. Link, on the other hand, looked skeptical, as he knew this tone in her voice too well and which never meant anything good...

"What do you mean Navi? Something that works on me too?"

The little fairy giggled.

A gleeful giggle...

"If he is your exact copy, then this method would have to work excellently on him."

"Come on Navi, stop the teasing and tell us already!"

"Okay, fine. How about that: If you catch him you tie him up and then you give him a good tickle. Until he begs for mercy! After all this always works on you very well, doesn't it?"

Malon laughed instantly again and also Navi joined in her laughter.

The only one who didn't laugh was Link himself.

His head looked like a tomato now and he clasped both hands over his face, as images popped up inside his head, which he had never wanted to see and he was sure that these images would be burned into his memory forever.

"Navi!" he growled and he glared at her through his fingers, but his dark gaze missed its effect, for his fairy just laughed and she sat back on his shoulder.

"What? I just said the truth."

She flew to Malon and looked at the farm girl's face, grinning.

"I tickled him months ago when he broke through the ground in the forest temple and got tangled in some tendrils. You should have been there. I am sure the whole temple has heard his laughter."

"Not true! Don't listen to her Malon! These are all lies!"

Malon just laughed and looked at him, grinning and Navi also flew back to him, hovering just in front of his face so he had to look at her.

"Lies? Really Link? Shall I do it again? Then Malon will see that these are no lies at all and that you are one veeeeery ticklish hero..."

The boy instantly wrapped his arms around his upper body and growled at her.

"Don't even think about it! I'm still seriously injured!"

Now he was just exaggerating it…

"As if that would stop me..."

"Navi!"

The cheeky fairy giggled and she sat back on his shoulder, brushing her wing over the side of his neck, which now made him giggle and he scrunched his shoulders up and tried to protect his neck.

"I'm just teasing you Link," she whispered in his ear and that made him giggle a bit more.

"Of course, I'll wait until you feel better and when the time has come, you can be sure that you will not be able to stop laughing for a long, very long time and I'm sure Malon will help me, right?"

The farm girl giggled and nodded her head and Link buried his face again in his hands and muttered something into his not existing beard.

"Just you wait Link. This will be a lot of fun..."

He peeked through his fingers again, glaring at her and before Navi knew what was happening, Link had grabbed her gently with his hand and used the other to tickle her small body with his forefinger, relishing in the cute laughter he got as a response.

"How about I start practicing now? After all I need to be in a good condition when I face my "Shadow" once again, right Navi?"

Yes, there were times when he would like to send his fairy to Ganondorf, but he was sure that not even the great king of evil would be able to stand it with her for too long.

This thought made him grin and he kept on tickling his little friend and he would only stop once she would start begging him for mercy. After all she was as merciless as he was right now when it came to tickling him (and she tickled him way too often for his taste), so it was only fair if she got a taste of her own medicine now...

Navi could be a little monster if she wanted to, but he had closed this little monster into his heart in all this time and he didn't want to miss her in his life anymore, because she brought joy and happiness to him; even in the darkest hours of his life.

Just as she had done it again today.

And for this he was eternally grateful, for she gave him a good reason to keep fighting and bring peace back to this country.

Just as Navi gave him peace when he needed it.

Because that's exactly what friends were there for...

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's Note:**  
 _Yes I said that this is the last part of my series and this is, more or less, true, but I have written a little extra chapter for this story, since a few people on my dA wished for a silly tickle story with Dark Link (which was a nice, little challenge for me to write). If anyone has interest in reading this, please let me know and I will also upload this here too (I am still pretty shy to upload these kind of stories here, that's why I ask). But for now thank you for reading my little series and I hoped you liked it :)._


	5. Come to me Fairy boy (MM)

_Yay, my second Majora's Mask story and a pretty dark one this time.  
You can find the first story on this account too.  
The story calls "We aren't friends, or are we?" by that way, so if anyone wants to check it out, I would be very happy. _

* * *

**Come to me Fairy boy**

The fight against Ganondorf, the day when he had brought peace back to the kingdom of Hyrule, had long been passed and Link still couldn't believe that he, the once lonely Kokiri, the one who had been an outsider for all his life, had now become the hero who had banished the darkness and all evil from this country and who had banished Ganondorf into the deepest depths of hell.

All this still seemed so surreal to him; almost like a dream, but he knew that it was not a dream, that this had happened for real and that he was now a real hero.

After the fight against Ganondorf, he had been sent back seven years to the past, so he could catch up on his childhood that had been stolen from him.

Link had been glad to live a normal life at last, but the initial joy had quickly disappeared when his companion, the little fairy Navi, had left him. He had known that this day would come, that he and Navi would say farewell, but when the day had come, the farewell had hurt more than any sword thrust could ever do. Navi had become a good friend in all this time and Link had closed the little fairy into his heart. The farewell was all the more painful when their paths had parted in the temple of time and when he was all alone again.

At first it wasn't so bad for him, for he had won many good friends during his journey through Hyrule. He had become the blood brother of a Goron, had met Impa, one of the legendary Sheikah, who had been a good ally for him. He had met Malon and whenever he thought of her, his cheeks blushed a little. Even if he wouldn't admit it, but deep down in his heart he knew that he felt more for Malon than just friendship. Then there was the Zora Princess Ruto, whom he had saved from the stomach of Lord Jabu Jabu and who had inevitably appointed him to her husband when they had later met in the Water Temple. And then there was still Princess Zelda...

All these memories made the young Hylian almost burst with pride and joy at the same time.

Even Mido had improved over time and he had apologized for his bad behavior towards him, after Link had broken the curse of the Forest Temple and that meant a lot to him, because he remembered how mean Mido had always been to him.

All this was now past and Link could begin to live.

But the initial joy faded a bit more with every new day and eventually it gave way to loneliness once again.

A loneliness that Link hadn't felt for a long time, but it hit him like a sword blow again and tore deep wounds into his soul that were worse than anything he'd ever felt before, because when Zelda had sent him back in time to catch up on his childhood, the memories of him were also erased from the minds of all those whom he had met on his journey. No one would remember him or his heroic deeds. For all of them he would be the little boy from the Kokiri Forest. No great hero of Hyrule, who had brought peace to this land.

And in the end, even his little fairy had left him and he was completely alone in this great world once again...

He could hardly bear the loss of his friend and still couldn't believe that their paths were now separated forever.

When the young hero could no longer stand these thoughts, he decided to saddle his horse and ride into the lost woods to look for his friend. If he didn't do that, he knew that it would drive him mad.

He was aware that a trip into the lost woods was dangerous without a fairy that would lead him and he knew what would happen when he walked into these woods, but he had to do it; he owed his little fairy that, after all she had done for him.

And the dangerous search was worth it, to find the only friend who still remembered him and his deeds as a hero...

He had started his new journey the very next day.

When he went on his way, the sun had just risen and a wonderful warm breeze had greeted him.

But this had changed when he had entered the lost woods.

Here the sunlight hardly came through and darkness that ruled over the forest.

He shuddered and he had trouble to calm his mare Epona down, as the horse was aware of the danger that lived within these forests, but Link managed to soothe her, so they could continue their journey.

For hours he rode through the woods, looking for Navi everywhere, but he didn't find a single trace of his friend.

Hours became days and days became weeks and still he couldn't find any trace of his little fairy and slowly he lost all hope to see her ever again.

In the evening of another day Link settled down to rest with his mare.

Epona rested slightly away from the tree against which he had leaned.

A warm fire crackled in front of him and gave him warmth, but Link hardly noticed it. He stared blankly into the blazing flames and was lost in his thoughts.

Above the forest a thunderstorm was gathering and he noticed it only when the first lightning turned the night into day for a short time and when the raindrops began to soak the ground beneath his feet.

The lightning followed a loud thunder, which scared his horse so much that Epona raised her head. A nervous snort came from her nostrils and Link noticed too late what was going on and before he could react, the next thunder scared his horse so much that she run away in fear.

"Epona! DON'T!" he shouted after her, but it was too late.

His horse disappeared in the darkness of the lost woods.

And then, he was all alone...

For hours he was looking for his horse.

The rain was mercilessly going down on him, drenched his hair and clothes and the cold that the storm brought with it made him shiver. The torch he held in his hand barely gave him light, as the fire continued to fade because of the rain.

When the last light, which would lead him through these forests, had been extinguished, he collapsed in the midst of the forest. He sank to his knees and buried his face into his hands and let the tears flow, which he had held back for so long.

Now he had no one at his side anymore.

Navi had disappeared and Epona as well and he no longer knew where he was and whether he would ever find the way back from the lost woods.

It was hopeless and he was lost...

He didn't know for how long he ran through the woods without orientation.

He had also lost all sense of time, for the sun hardly brought light into this part of the woods and so it was almost always dark.

Somehow Link had grown tired of running and so he settled down next to a tree, sat down and buried his face into his arms, which he had placed on his bend up knees and he let all his hopelessness out of himself and cried as he had never cried before.

He couldn't tell for how long he sat there.

It was an eerie silence around him.

No animals were heard; only the sound of rustling leaves, as the wind passed through them and the patter of the rain drops was the only thing that came to his ears.

When he heard the voice for the first time, he thought it was just his imagination, but when the voice repeated and when he could hear it much clearer this time, he raised his head. He wiped the tears from his eyes and searched his surroundings, but he couldn't see anything or anyone to whom this strange voice might belong.

When he was almost sure that he had just imagined it, the voice repeated itself and this time it was so loud that Link's body jumped.

"What are you doing out here, my boy? And so alone?"

Goosebumps was rising on his whole body, as this dark voice spoke to him. His body tensed and his hand went automatically to his sword, which was attached to his back.

"But my little one…Let your sword rest. I will not harm you."

Link took all his courage and answered the voice.

"Who are you?"

"Who I am? Well, this is not so important. Rather, I'm interested in who _you_ are and where you come from. I've never seen anyone like you here in these woods."

Link didn't answer.

He remained tense and continued to look around, but no matter how hard he was trying, he could see nothing and no one.

"You don't seem to be very talkative, aren't you?"

The dark voice seemed to come from all sides, seemed to be circling around him and the young Hylian didn't like that at all, but he tried to show courage and he stayed where he was, because if he would get up now, he wasn't sure if he could hold back his panic any longer.

"If you want to know who I am: I am the one whom they call the Hero of Time," he finally answered.

Loud, malicious laughter came from the darkness to him, making him tremble heavily.

"You? The Hero of Time? Hahaha this is too funny! How can a young child like you be the Hero of Time?"

Anger rose inside the young hero's body and he clenched his jaw tightly.

"Just look at you, little one. You are lonely and deserted, sit here in the dark forest and no one is by your side. You're completely alone and you don't look like a hero to me; with tears in your eyes and a heavy heart in your chest. This is not how a hero looks like. That's how someone looks like, who has turned his back on the world and who has no hope left in his heart."

Every single word felt like a thousand of needles at once, but Link had to agree with the eerie voice, for it was not wrong with what it said. He was lonely and felt abandoned by all his friends and he had the feeling no one would care about him any longer and inwardly he was sure that those who might have remembered him would have long since forgotten him.

Even Navi...

These thoughts were enough to let the tears running over his cheeks again and before he could prevent it, they wetted his face once again.

"Ohhh my little one. Don't cry. I am here and if you wish, I will stay with you from now on."

Although the voice was deep and dark, it obscured his sense of danger and let him hope again.

"Would you really do that?"

His own voice sounded in his ears, as if was coming from far away and as if it would no longer belong to him.

Then he saw a movement in the darkness.

Far in front of him, he saw a glow that was slowly approaching him.

Two bright yellow eyes broke out of the darkness, came over to him and the closer they came, the more Link could recognize the shape. But...it was not a human who came to him.

It was a...mask?

The mask hovered in the air, slowly approaching him and he shuddered as he looked at it.

It looked at him from two huge yellow eyes.

Horns adorned its sides and its head and it was decorated with ample color and patterns.

A mask that Link was supposed to be afraid of, but the voice that came out of the mask still enveloped him in that fog that deceived all his senses and made him blind to the danger that was now right in front of him.

"I wouldn't just do that, my little one. Together we are strong. And I'd make sure you'll never be lonely again. Forget all those you called your friends... "

The mask now floated right in front of his face and its gaze almost pierced his soul.

"...and let me in. I will be your new and your only friend. We will have a lot of fun together, trust me."

Tentacles loosened from the back of the mask and stroked Link almost tenderly over his cheeks and his head.

"You say you are the Hero of Time and maybe that is the truth you are saying, but I still see only a hero caught in the body of a child. I can look into your heart and I see darkness and despair in it. But I can make sure that the darkness will disappear from your heart. What do you say, little one? Do you want me to stay with you?"

Link didn't respond, only stretched his hands out to the mask and carefully stroked his fingertips over the surface. The mask was flawlessly worked out and radiated a power that he couldn't resist; no matter how hard he tried. His lips twisted into a dark grin and he didn't even notice how his own eyes started to glow in an eerie red as the dark side got the upper hand in him.

"Yes. I want that…"

And these words sealed Link's fate.

The tentacles wrapped around his head and the mask turned around, so that the inside of the mask was facing Link's face and then it came slowly closer to him

"So be it...Hero of Time. We will have a lot of fun together..."

When the mask touched his face, Link thought it would tear his soul out of his body. Pain spread across his face, which slowly wandered through his entire body and let him scream as the power of the mask tore his soul apart bit by bit and slowly made him to the mask's marionette.

His screams of pain echoed through the dark forest for a long time in that night, mingling with the malicious laughter of Majora, when his mask took possession of the young hero who once saved Hyrule.

But soon this hero would destroy the land which he had saved and those whom he once had called his friends would tremble with fear if they would only hear his name; Majora's mask would make sure about that.

And Hyrule would shatter under his power and hatred…

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's note:  
** _I have been thinking about such a story for a long time and I finally found the time and motivation to write this one down._  
 _I love the game Majora's Mask so much and I was always thinking about what could have happened to Link if he would have met Majora's Mask instead of the skull kid getting the mask. I mean if you see how Ocarina of Time ends, I could totally see this happening. And that's why I don't like Zelda at all. She may had good intentions for Link by sending him back to his original time, but I think she made matters so much worse for him by doing that, since nobody would remember Link as the great Hero who saved Hyrule anymore. I can only imagine how broken he is in the inside and how sad his life must have looked like when Navi has left him (and I still have no clue WHY Navi left him in the end of OOT!) and when he was left all alone again and when he made his journey into the lost woods. And we all know what happens there if you enter these woods without a fairy..._

 _Oh and as for a certain scene in this one-shot: If you ask yourself why Link's eyes turned red in the end of the story: I have thought about Dark Link, since he is a part of Link's soul and if you have followed my little Dark Link series on here, you will remember Dark's words that he will always be a part of Link and that he would take control over his soul, once Link gives up on everything (and since Link traveled back in time, Dark Link would still be alive so or so). That's why I made his eyes turn red at the end. As if to say that the dark side, aka Dark Link, takes over his soul now ;). (I hope this makes sense to you).  
_

 _Soooo how do you like this idea?_

 _I have also written a similar one-shot like this, only featuring the F_ _ierce Deity Mask instead of Majora's Mask and if there is interest, I will upload this one too.  
But you have to tell me that guys. I am not able to read minds, you know?  
_


	6. Helpless in the Forest Temple (OOT)

_Yay, I am finally done with translating this story from german into english.  
I hope there aren't too many mistakes in here, since this story was a pain in the butt to translate!_  
 _The idea for this story is a pretty old idea which I first got somewhere in 2015._  
 _But I didn't like my old story anymore and thus I have decided to re-write this story and this is the result._  
 _For those who have interest in reading the old (and much shorter) version: The story calls "Helpless Hero" and can be found on my account here._

 _I just wanted to add much more details to this story and I think I did a pretty good job with that._  
 _I love the Forest Temple so much (dat music!). One of my favorite Temples in OOT :)._

 _And a little "warning", since this story contains tickling, so if you don't like this, you better not read it ;)._  
 _But like I have said it already in my foreword: I distance myself from fetish AND sexual content of any kind!_  
 _My tickle stories are clean, harmless, funny, fluffy stories that are meant to bring a smile to my reader's faces  
(and of course to my own face, since it's so much fun for me to write these stories). I am still a bit shy to post my tickle stories though..._

 _Anyway, I hope you like this one and as always I would be very happy about some feedback, since I want to know how you like this new version  
(if you still know the old version from 2015). _

_Thank you :3._

* * *

 **Helpless in the Forest Temple**

When Link saw the Forest Temple for the first time, his disappointment was big, for his image of a peaceful temple, hidden deep in an idyllic forest, had been destroyed when the first Wolfo had attacked him and when his razor sharp fangs had bit into his tunic and had just missed his arm that was hidden under the fabric.

He had been so surprised by the attack that he hadn't been able to react quickly enough and when he had managed to draw his sword, another Wolfo had attacked him, who had watched him out of the shadows. When the sharp fangs had drilled into his boot, Link had lost his balance and fell to the ground and the second Wolfo attacked him immediately. He escaped the beast's fangs just in time, which snapped at his face and he was only able to send this hideous monster back to hell, where it belonged to, with great difficulty. The other Wolfo, who was still biting into his boot, he killed only seconds afterwards with a single, targeted sword blow.

Navi had flown to him immediately, as Link sat up, looking at the holes in his right boot. Fortunately the Wolfo's fangs hadn't passed through the thick leather, but the boot still looked very tattered.

"Is everything all right?" she had asked, but Link had only murmured something, had stood up and had put his sword back into the sword scabbard which was attached to his back.

"I am fine, only my boot has suffered quite a lot."

"Be glad your boot has protected you. You couldn't have entered the Forest Temple with a broken foot."

Navi wasn't wrong with what she said, but Link would never admit this out loud...

Silently, he had continued his way and when he opened the entrance door to the Temple, the next surprise had already greeted him in the form of a giant Skulltula, which was coming from the ceiling and used one of her long legs to hit at him, but Link had quickly raised his shield upwards and thus parried the attack. The master sword sealed the fate of the Skulltula quite quickly and Link and Navi could continue their journey.

"If you continue to make such noises then the whole temple knows that we are here before you even enter the main hall!"

"I could also say the same about you Navi."

"What does that mean?"

"Meaning that you can stop talking and instruct me! I am not a little child anymore, if you haven't noticed it yet!"

"Oh no? You are not? Do you think just because you're grown up, you have also grown more mature at the same time? You're still as childish as you were seven years ago, so don't tell me to keep my mouth shut! Without me you would have been lost when you've entered the lost woods!"

"Tze, I would have done it without you!"

"You don't believe that yourself! What is going on with you Link? Why are you so angry at me?"

The young man sighed and ran his hand through his face to wipe the sweat off his skin and then paused briefly as he stood before another closed door which would lead him into the main hall of the temple.

He turned his head to his fairy and looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry Navi. It's nothing personal. I was even angry at Sheik just before we left to go to Kakariko. I have yet to get used to it that seven years have passed within a few moments, that I am now grown up and that I have to save the princess and a whole kingdom. And Saria has also disappeared all of a sudden and have you seen how the Kokiri forest looks like? All of this is pulling on my nerves. I'm sorry when I was mean to you. And also because of Sheik I have a guilty conscience. He only wanted to help us, and I was so mean to him..."

Navi flew to him, sat down on his shoulder and gently stroked his cheek.

"It's alright Link. I don't take it personally, but still: Try to pull yourself together. You can't let your fury guide you, because that will end badly. Just look at what Ganondorf has become. The darkness has completely devoured his soul and he has become the great master of evil. If you don't hold back the darkness in you, the same thing will happen to you one day. I know that you are angry and I can understand that, but don't let it lead you."

A small smile spread over Link's face and he gently stroked over her small wings.

"Don't worry Navi, I'll never be like Ganondorf. There is no room in my heart for so much darkness."

"You do know that this sounded just incredibly kitschy?"

Link grinned.

"I thought you fairies would like kitschy things?"

"You people and your prejudices!"

A laugh broke from the hero's throat and he reached out for the door handle and opened the door.

His laughter died down as soon as he entered the main hall and when he saw the ghosts who were hovering further down in the middle of the room and who were looking up to him as soon as he entered the hall. Goosebumps overcame the hero and his fairy shuddered also at the sight.

"Ghosts? But Sheik didn't tell me about that!"

Now it was Navi who grinned.

"Looks like he didn't want to spoil your surprise."

"Navi! This is not a big help! What should I do against four ghosts at once?"

The moment these words left his mouth, there was something that looked like a sort of elevator that was down there. Slowly, the platform sank into the ground until it had completely disappeared and gradually the lights of the four torches, which stood around the platform, went out one by one. And the ghosts disappeared with the lights in each corner of the temple.

"See? Problem solved."

"Really Navi? Didn't you notice what happened when the torches went out? We have to kindle them again and I have the feeling that I have to find these ghosts to do that."

"Then we should hurry and...hey, why are you looking at me like that Link? Oh come on, don't tell me that you're afraid of some ghosts?"

"They are ghosts Navi. G-H-O-S-T-S."

"So what?"

"So what? Navi!"

"What? You've seen worse than ghosts."

"So? And what, for example?"

"You were in the belly of a huge whale and before we came here, you were in a grave and had a small race with the _ghost_ of Dampé the grave digger. Isn't that enough?"

Link muttered something to himself that sounded like an "Okay, you won," and then he shouldered his shield and his sword and set off again.

His fairy followed him, still grinning.

"Don't take it so hard Link, maybe everything won't be as bad as you think?"

But even Navi's views on that should change soon...

It wasn't even half an hour later, before Navi had completely changed her mind about this temple.

Link was just leaning his back against the door, which he had just closed behind him and he ran his hands through his face.

"Have you seen this huge Deku Baba? He almost ate me with hair and skin!"

"That huge thing can be hardly overlooked Link. You were really lucky that it didn't kill you!"

"I know right? I'm glad when we get out of here! I hate this temple already!"

"Let's go somewhere else. And you better not touch this door ever again."

"I haven't planned to do that again Navi. Definitely not. I now know what is on the other side of it. But we have to go there anyway. Maybe we'll find another way into this room."

"Let's not waste any time then."

Link, had in fact found another way into the room, but he had found said way by accident...literally, because when he and Navi had entered the next room, Link had broken through the floor. Plant roots had broken the floor with the years and made it porous and Link had just stepped onto this one spot when he had entered the long corridor and the floor hadn't been able to withstand his weight and so he had broken through the floor.

He had been lucky in misfortune, for the many plant tendrils had intercepted his fall and he hadn't fallen into the infinite darkness which spread beneath him. But he was now hanging in the tendrils and could barely move, as the tendrils had wrapped around his legs, his arms and the rest of his body and they held him tightly. He tried desperately to free himself, tugged as hard as he could on the tendrils, but they didn't give him free and the more he tried to free himself, the more he wrapped himself up in all those tendrils. He couldn't reach his sword either, since he couldn't move his arms at all. His left hand was so close to his sword, as his arm hung over his head and his fingertips touched the sword handle, but that was it. He tried to free his legs instead, but all that happened was that he lost his right boot, the one which the Wolfo destroyed with his fangs, once he pulled a bit too hard on the tendrils and the boot then fell into the darkness. His foot was still not free though and to make his suffering worse, he now was in a not very pleasant position, because his leg was now bend up and he shuddered as his bare toes already touched the ice cold wall behind him.

But the situation had also a good thing, because when the boot landed on the floor only a few moments later, Link and Navi knew that he was not in danger, because the floor wasn't far away, but that was only a tiny light in so much darkness.

But Link had so or so to deal with completely different problems, because he tried desperately to keep his temper.

What had Navi said?

He had to keep his dark side at bay?

This was easier said than done; especially when there was already a volcano in his belly that was just about to break out. If the whole situation wouldn't change anytime soon, Navi would see his dark side quicker than she liked!

But he tried his best to calm himself down, breathed deeply in and out and told himself that everything would be all right, that he would soon be free and that he could continue his journey. He would find Saria, would break the curse that lay over this temple, bring peace back to the Kokiri Forest and he would be celebrated as the great hero, he was supposed to be.

Yes, that would happen soon...

If there wasn't his naughty fairy, who couldn't stop laughing at his predicament!

Not even when he opened his eyes and gave her a look that would be able to freeze hell.

"Stop laughing Navi! This isn't funny at all," he growled and he squirmed around in his "bonds", but they still didn't release him.

Great, just great!

Luckily, nobody could see him like this, besides Navi.

He didn't want to imagine what would happen if Sheik would see him like that...or Saria...or even Princess Zelda...

Link's cheeks turned red of such thoughts and also in part of anger, since his fairy didn't want to stop laughing. She made fun of him instead of helping him.

The Deku tree had sent him a great companion there!

But as soon as this thought had come, Link regretted it quickly.

Navi was a good soul and a good friend for him.

She didn't deserve it that he thought about her like that and it was at this moment when the bad conscience caught up with him. The anger in his belly faded and he relaxed a bit. Navi had been right with her words, because if she hadn't led him through the lost woods...he didn't even want to imagine what would have happened to him then. The Kokiris had always been talking terrible stories about the lost woods for as long as he could think and what happened to those who entered the lost woods without a fairy that would guide them...

Nevertheless, a growl left his throat, for Navi still didn't want to stop laughing.

Well at least someone who had fun here...

"Instead of laughing yourself to death, you can make yourself useful and help me out of here," he growled.

The little fairy actually stopped laughing and she flew over to him, just to grin right into his face.

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Are you serious Navi? What if an enemy finds me here? That would be my sure death!"

"But there are no enemies here and no one will be able to find you here. Don't you worry about that."

"That's not very calming. Come on, get me out of here. I would like to leave this temple as soon as possible."

"But why? It's just so cozy here."

Oh yes, there were those moments in which Link wanted to send his companion to hell and such a moment was right now...

He opened his mouth and wanted to answer something fitting, but not a single word left his lips as he closed his mouth as fast as he had opened it. His lips twisted into a grotesque grin and he hid his face quickly into the crook of his arm to hide his reactions from his fairy, but she had already seen enough and now it was Navi who didn't understand anything anymore. Just a few seconds ago Link had been angry at her and had looked at her as if he wanted to send her to hell and now he grinned as if he had lost the last bit of his sanity.

To make the whole situation even weirder, Link began to giggle a few moments later and it was at this moment, in which Navi understood nothing at all.

"Uhhh Link? Is everything alright with you?" she asked, totally confused.

The young man shook his head and still giggled softly to himself.

She could see how he balled his hands into fists and how the muscles in his body tensed.

"Don't you want to share the joke with me?"

He shook his head again and his giggling grew louder and movement went into his body, for he now tugged more strongly at the tendrils than before and he began to squirm in his shackles. His giggling became louder and started to turn into real laughter.

"Seriously, what is wrong with you? What is so funny?"

"F-F-Foot!" was all he got out.

Navi didn't know what he meant and she gave him a look, as if he had completely lost his mind now. Still, she flew down to his foot to look at what he meant and when she saw the source for his spontaneous laughing fit, she had to laugh herself, because now she finally understood why he couldn't stop cackling like a cucco anymore.

"So much for "Down here your enemies will not find you". This little baby Deku baba has found you here and it looks like he likes you so much that he just wants to take a bite from you," she said, smirking and that made the whole situation all the worse for Link.

With her words, Navi described the little Deku baba, who grew out of the wall behind Link and who had been biting into his bare foot for the whole time, or at least it was trying to do so, but the little babies of these plants didn't have any dangerous fangs and thus their bites didn't harm their victims. This Deku baba had Link's big toe firmly in his grip and chewed on it with much pleasure, but instead of suffering from strong pain, the young hero was stuck in a laughing fit, because it tickled him terribly.

Why had he had to lose his damn boot that would have saved him from this embarrassment?

The gods really had to hate him...

His little companion didn't seem to see it that way, because she was highly amused by the whole situation and couldn't stop laughing herself anymore, now that she knew what was wrong with Link. And when she was honest, she enjoyed seeing Link laughing like that. This was something he hadn't done for a long, long time. And besides, it was good to know that he was still ticklish after such a long time.

Knowledge, which she could use against him later and when he needed some cheering up...

"Nahahavi p-please...m-mahahake him stohohohop!"

Giggling, she watched the little Deku baba as he let go of Link's big toe and instead took over the rest of the foot. As he licked the sole of his foot with his little tongue, it was all over for Link. As Lava that broke out of a volcano, his laughter broke out of him and it didn't take long before Navi's own stomach hurt from laughing too much herself. The whole situation was so ridiculous that she couldn't help but laugh along with him, even if she knew that this was quite mean and yes, probably Link would hate her for it, but it was totally worth it.

Still, she felt pity for him after a while and she pushed the little Deku baba away from his foot and to make sure that he didn't "attack" the foot again, she freed Link's leg from the tendrils so that his foot sank back down, where it would be out of reach of the small carnivorous plant.

Link's laughter died down as soon as the tickling sensation had stopped and the dark look was back on his face immediately, as Navi flew up to his head again and looked at him.

"What? Why are you giving me that look? I made sure that he stopped, right?"

"Yes, but only after I almost died here!"

"Oh come on Link, now you totally exaggerate it."

A growl rose from his throat, which only made his fairy grin.

"And stop snarling at me or are you turning into one of these Wolfos, huh? Besides, I have liked you much more just a few seconds ago."

"What does that mean?"

"Meaning that you should laugh more, since it looks good on you, you know?"

Barely noticeable Links cheeks turned red once again and he turned his face away from her, but Navi had seen enough, which she also immediately commented with an amused giggle.

"Ohhh, don't be ashamed of that Link. There is no reason for that."

"Of course there is a reason for it Navi. That was totally embarrassing and I hope it stays between us and that you won't tell anyone about what just happened here."

"What? That the great and mighty hero, who is supposed to save Hyrule, is so ticklish that he screams like a girl?"

And Link's face was looking like a tomato...

"Hey! What are you talking there Navi?! I don't scream like a girl!"

"No?"

"No! And now stop teasing me and get me out here!"

"Oh, but I like you like that, you know?"

"Navi!"

The little fairy grinned and flew slowly around him and she watched him as he squirmed around in the tendrils once again and tried to free himself and failed miserably at that.

"It would be a shame to free you now, especially since I would miss out on the only opportunity to finally teach you some manners."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that someone should teach you a bit of respect. You've been very mean towards me lately and I am sick of it that you treat me like that. It's time that I show you that you can't do anything you want with me and I think now is the perfect opportunity, don't you agree? And this cute little baby Deku baba has just shown me the perfect method to teach you a few proper manners. And who knows, maybe I'll tell Sheik about it the next time we meet him, so he can teach you some manners too..."

"W-what ? Come on Navi, you can't be serious!"

"And how serious I am with that. And since you are constantly pulling a face like seven days of rainy weather and looking as if the moon is about to crash down on the world, I should perhaps cheer you up a bit too. Laughter is supposed to be the best medicine, didn't you know that?"

Link's eyes widened as he slowly got an idea of what his fairy was about to do to him. Once again, he began to twist in his bonds and tore at them, but they still didn't give in, so he had to watch helplessly as his little friend slowly flew over to him.

"N-no! Navi! Stay away from me!"

But Navi didn't listen to him.

"Don't you dare Navi, I mean it!"

The death glares he gave her missed their effect, because Navi wasn't bothered by that in the slightest.

"Navi! Don't do it! I'm warning you!"

She ignored his words and came closer and closer and closer and then...she disappeared into his green tunic and white undershirt.

A loud and quite unmanly squeal left the hero's throat, when the tickling began from anew and this time it happened with full intent, which made it much worse for him.

The little Deku baba had been bad, but Navi was downright brutal!

Oh yes, she still knew all of his weak spots which she had found seven years ago when she had wanted to know whether he was ticklish or not and apparently he was veeeeery ticklish…

"H-hey! Hey! Navi...S-Stohohohop it! N-no tihihihickling! This is...Ahh!...unfahahair! I-I hahahave had enough of thahahahat alreahahady…hahaha..s-stop ihihihit!" he managed to squeeze out between his laughing fit and he squirmed around in his bonds like a fish on a hook.

He heard his fairy giggle and he squealed again, louder this time, as he felt tiny little fingers tickling over his bare side and he twisted away from the fingers as best he could, but he couldn't escape them at all, since his little tormentor stuck inside his clothes and thus there was no escape for him at all.

"Stop? I don't think so. I won't stop tickling you until you stop being so mean to me and when a smile is glued to your grumpy face!"

"I-I'm nohohohot grumpy!"

"Oh yes, you are," the little fairy said with a sing-sang voice and she kept on tickling him cheerfully and giggled as she heard how his voice was getting higher and higher, as she had found an extra ticklish spot on his belly.

"B-By the gods! Nahahahavi! S-stohohohp thahahahat...hahahaha...no! Nohohot there! PLEAHAHAHASE!" he squealed in his despair, but he only earned more merry laughter from his fairy and he felt how she dug her tiny fingers deeper into this one little spot on the side of his belly.

"Awww but you are soooo cute when you're laughing. Tickle, tickle, tickle~."

"W-wahahait until I g-get out of hehehere Nahahavi! Th-then we'll see who w-will be lahahaughing!"

"Maybe, but for now it's _you_ who is laughing~."

Oh yes, Navi knew that she would regret that later, but it was totally worth it!

Link desperately wriggled in his bonds, trying to kick his legs out, but this was hardly possible. His muscles were about to tear (at least it felt to him like this would happen); so much strength he used to try to free his arms, but the tendrils were too thick and didn't give in one bit. He had thrown his head back, had squeezed his eyes shut and here and there the first tears rolled down his red cheeks as he gave in to his loud laughter.

Memories of long past days were floating through his mind, as Navi kept on tickling him.

He saw himself lying on the floor, laughing loudly, above him Mido and his friends who held him down and tickled him until he was crying with laughter. Often he had fought against the older Kokiri and much too often he had lost against him and situations like these were almost on the agenda back then.

And Saria hadn't been any better when she had once figured out how ticklish he was...

All of this went through his mind in this moment and he almost felt as if he was back in these times. In times, where no monsters ruled over the Kokiri Forest. Times when Link was not a chosen hero, but a normal boy who loved to laugh and just be a child.

All what he couldn't be anymore...

Wouldn't there be his little fairy that made him laugh even in the darkest hours of his life...if not entirely voluntarily, as now. But the longer she tickled him, the longer he laughed, his ice-cold facade crumbled. The hero moved into the background and the little boy he once had been came back more and more. His laughter changed slightly, sounded no longer hysterical and tormented as in the beginning. No. This laughter was real and it came from the deepest depths of his heart.

And it was exactly this laughter, this Link, after Navi had been looking for so long...

"C-Come on, Nahahahahavi...P-please! Enough w-with the tihihickling!"

Again the fairy giggled.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me the mighty Hero of Hyrule can't stand being tickled?"

The teasing words made him laugh even harder.

No, actually it was the whole damn situation that made him laugh even harder.

The whole situation was so absurd and stupid...he could just laugh heartily at it.

And somehow it was also so much fun to fool around like that, even if Link would never admit this out loud. But his cheerful laughter said more than any word in this world could do it. It felt so damn good to let go and laugh like that, especially after all the dark days that lay behind him.

In this little moment he was no longer the Hero of Time.

No.

In this moment he was again the innocent little boy from the Kokiri Forest.

But no matter how much fun he had, even the Hero of the Time couldn't take it anymore after some time and Navi could feel this too.

Again she giggled as she teased his belly once again and a sugary sweet squeak interrupted his laughing fit and his whole body jumped hard at that.

"Well, you great hero? Are you giving up?"

Link tried to answer, but he barely got a word over his lips and he was already laughing so loud that he thought it would echo through the whole damn temple by now.

"Y-YES! DO YOU HEAR THAHAHAT NAHAHAVI? YEHEHES! I GIVE UHUHUP! YOU WIN! YOU WIHIHIN!" he pressed through his loud laughter before his laughter went silent and that was the point at which the little fairy stopped tickling him and flew out of his white undershirt and green tunic.

Again, Link felt her grin on his body, but this time he grinned back at her after he had stopped laughing like a maniac and he raised his head and looked at her. He was totally done with the world, his stomach ached, tears wetted his bright red cheeks, but he felt as good as he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"It's nice to see you smile again," Navi said and her voice was soft, her words honest and she sat down on his shoulder and gently stroked his cheek with her wing.

Link's grin faded from his face, made place for a warm smile and after a few more minutes his warm smile turned into a grin once again.

"What?" the little fairy wanted to know when he chuckled and again the amusement was audible in her voice.

"I think I deserved that..."

Now it was Navi who laughed loudly and it didn't take long until the young Hero was laughing along with her.

"Hey Navi?" he asked after he few moments of silence.

"Yes Link?"

"How about you help me out of here now?"

"Hmm I could do that."

"Nice, but please Navi...this time without tickling me."

Again she giggled and she brushed her wing teasingly over his ear, which made him scrunch his shoulders up and giggle.

"I can't promise anything that I can't hold, you hero..."

 **The End**


	7. Nightmares (MM)

_This is the story that won the voting on my dA account._  
 _A pretty dark story by that way. I thought this was fitting for Halloween.  
I hope it's not too dark (I was holding myseld back already. This is still harmless...)  
_

 _To be honest? This story was a veeeeery spontaneous idea which I wrote down within a day._  
 _And I like how his came out._

 _This story is a mix between Majora's Mask, Ocarina of time and the Mangas._

 _I hope there aren't too many errors in here, since this was a pain in the butt to translate, trust me._

 _And again feedback is very much appreciated by me._

* * *

 **Nightmares**

The day couldn't have been more beautiful.

He had managed to break the curse that lay over the Woodfall Temple, had saved the Deku-Princess and he had given peace to the swamps. And his relationship to Tatl had also become a lot better, what the day had clearly shown to him when the two had taken one day off from their journey, which was fortunately possible, since Link had the ocarina of time with him and thus he was always able to travel through time and back to the first day.

It had been a lot of fun to explore Clock Town together with Tatl, to try out the many games this town had to offer, win many prizes and simply enjoy a nice, calm day. He had even been able to get a room in the stock pot inn, since Anju had made sure that a "poor boy" like him needed a bed to sleep and thus she had made sure that one of the storage rooms had been cleared so he could spend the night in there.

On this day, he forgot all that had happened to him, forgot his destiny as a hero, forgot his adventures in Hyrule, forgot how he had fought against Ganondorf and how he had become a Legend, forgot how he had saved Zelda and then went onto a new journey and he even forgot all of the terrible events that had happened since he had landed in Termina.

At least until he went to bed in the evening, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Only then did his past come back to him...

The nightmare, that haunted him in this night, was worse than anything he had ever experienced before and it tormented him to the deepest depths of his young soul.

He squirmed back and forth restlessly in his bed, muttering soft words to himself as his body tensed and trembled.

Tatl hovered over the boy and watched him silently.

She had tried to wake him up, when Link had started to whimper in his dream, but she had not succeeded and so she could only hover helplessly over him and watching him squirming around and suffering from his nightmare.

Only the gods alone knew what this boy had been through and what terrible things tormented him even in his dreams...

Link found himself standing in infinite darkness and a cold reached for his body, as he had never felt it before. A cold, that was so different from anything he knew, for that coldness seemed to impale his heart and it felt like his soul was freezing.

Then a dark roar rose in the darkness, which made him wince and out of pure reflex he reached for the Kokiri sword and the Deku shield, which was attached to his back.

The roar was followed by an eerie laughter and a Lizalfos came out of the darkness and ran over to him and even before Link had the chance to defend himself, or even raise his sword, the blade and shield were torn out of his hands and a claw-proof paw hit at him, cutting deep wounds into his right arm and the pain, which then chased through his entire body made him scream, before the monster slammed him to the ground and held him there. But the boy fought against the strong paw on his back, which had been laid on his back and pressed him onto the ground, until he felt how the air was pressed out of his lungs.

"Let me go!" he shouted in despair, but the monster only laughed at him mockingly and cut his claws through his green tunic and into his flesh, causing Link to scream again.

As the boy turned his head, he saw how more and more monsters came out of the darkness and came towards him. There he saw a Redead, who slowly began to walk into his direction, groaning horribly while doing that and Link felt how a shiver ran down his spine. Next to the Redead, a few poes came out of the darkness, which began to fly around his head and laughing mockingly at him. Stalfos warriors stood around him and seemed to impale him with their red glowing eyes. Stalchilds joined the other monsters and agreed to the mocking laughter of the poes, when Link once again screamed in pain, as the claws of the Lizalfos once again cut through his flesh. The courage left him and he stopped to defend himself, put his head onto the cold floor and only on the edge of his awareness did he see more and more of his old enemies walking over to him, scoffing at him, laughing at him and hitting at him or hit their weapons onto the ground. He heard the howling of Wolfos, heard the excited squeals of Deku Scrubs and the hissing of Deku Babas. The noise around him grew so loud that he would have liked to cover his ears with his hands, but as soon as he tried to raise his hands, the claws of the Lizalfos scratched again over his skin until his blood dropped to the ground.

Then again a deep roar rose from the darkness and as Link raised his head, he saw the dragon Volvagia and how he rose above all the other monsters and looked at him from those bright green eyes of his. He bared his fangs when he saw Link, lowered his head to the boy and growled threateningly.

"Look what you've done to me!" he growled at him and at that moment it seemed as if his head would fall off, causing Link to start screaming again. The memory came back to him, swept over him like an all-consuming tidal wave as he remembered how he had killed this dragon, which he had once called his friend, in the fire temple.

"It's all your fault! You could have saved me, but instead you cut my head off!" said the dragon with his dark voice and blood ran out of his nostrils and eyes and a long gaping wound spread around his neck. Link turned his face away from him, but the Lizalfos grabbed his hair with the free paw and forced his head up, so Link had to look at the dragon and watch as he turned into a bloody skeleton before his eyes.

"No...stop it...please..." the boy whimpered, but no soul could hear his pleading, since the roars and the malicious laughter of his enemies swallowed it up.

Volvagia disappeared before his eyes, but the next horror came to him only a few seconds later and it had the form of the adult Princess Zelda, but her eyes were red and she gave him a dark grin as she knelt down in front of him and brushed his hair out of his eyes so that he could look at her.

"Look around you Link. You took all this for me. For a girl, whom you didn't know and for whom you would have done everything. For a girl, for whom you would even have gone to death, but you know what? I didn't care for any of this. I just took advantage of you and you didn't even notice that, you fool."

These words hit him in the middle of his heart and he was unable to form words as his throat suddenly felt constricted. He forgot the monsters around him, could only see Zelda and how she laughed at him. There was something behind her. A hand broke out of the darkness, lay down onto her shoulder and then Ganondorf stood behind her, kneeled beside her and he stroked his fingers almost tenderly over her cheek.

"She has been working for me all the time and we have enjoyed seeing you suffer," he said to Link and tears formed in the boy's eyes upon hearing such dark words.

"You have never meant anything to me. You have always been a means to an end for me and nothing more..." Zelda said and Link turned his face away from her and sobbed, causing the mass of monsters around him to burst out into laughter.

"Just look how he cries!" he heard the scornful voice of a poe and the laughter around him grew louder.

"Like a little baby!" another, much deeper voice answered.

Even Zelda and Ganondorf joined in the malicious laughter and Link's heart almost broke into a thousand small pieces at that.

The claws of the Lizalfos suddenly clawed into his tunic and raised him up into the air, so that everyone could see him.

"Look at him! _This_ is supposed to be the great hero of time of whom all of us were afraid of? Pah! This is just a helpless, little child," said the lizard-monster, hurling Link back to the ground and hitting his claws at him, but Link managed to avoid them by rolling to the side, but the next enemy was waiting for him already. A white Wolfo, who bared his fangs and growled at him when he came too close to him and next to the Wolfo stood a huge Moblin, who tried to injure him with the spear, he held in his hands, but Link managed to roll away from him just in time.

The boy's heart beat so hard against his ribs that he thought the bones would burst under that burden. Tears ran down his cheeks, his body ached and he couldn't even get up; so weak he was.

"Weakling!" he heard the monsters roar and he winced at the word and more tears were streaming down his cheeks.

"I say we'll kill him right away!" he heard another voice saying and cheering cries and loud roars were the answer to it.

Link just curled up into a ball, crying and he closed his eyes, since he didn't want to see how they would kill him now.

He had no weapons with which he could defend himself and even if he had them, there were too many enemies at once against whom he could never have fought.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! GET AWAY FROM HIM!", a dark voice intersected the roars and laughter of the monsters and within a few seconds it was silent around him, but Link didn't dare to lift his head up and see who or what had stopped the monsters from killing him and tearing him into small pieces. He could hear footsteps that approached him slowly and only seconds later they came to a halt in front of him.

He winced hard as a hand was put onto his back and almost gently stroked over it and he even dared to lift his head up...and faced the next monster, which filled his heart with fear, because this monster was so different from those around him. This monster was an image of his adult self, was wrapped in complete darkness and stared at him from red sparkling eyes. His lips graced a mocking grin and the hand, which had just been lying on his back, moved on and cold fingers grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him.

"And so we meet again, little hero..." his shadow spoke with this dark voice and Link felt how another shiver ran down his spine. The fingers closed more tightly around his chin and only then did he realize that his dark counterpart had claws instead of fingernails, which slowly scraped over his skin, but Link remained brave, biting his teeth, trying to hide the pain from his enemy.

"Look at you Link. Where is the hero, who had once fought me in the water temple; full of courage in his heart? I don't see this hero anymore. Instead, I see a small child that can't stop crying and I feel great fear in your heart. Without the master sword you are nothing and you know that, don't you?"

Link didn't answer, tried to free himself from his grip and even managed to get his face out of the monster's claws. He fell backwards, which again brought him malicious laughter, but before he could hit his shadow with his fist, the Lizalfos was back behind him and reached for his arms and held them fast.

"Now look at that. It seems as if a spark of courage still lives in your heart, huh? But I'm sure that will change soon..."

"Go away and leave me alone!" Link snarled at him, which made his shadow laugh and he knelt down in front of him again, grabbed his chin and forced him to look into his red glowing eyes.

"You can fight against the darkness in you, you can try to withstand it, but in the end you will be dominated by it like any other human being. Look at me Link. This will be you at the end of your journey. At the end of your journey you will be so broken that you will even welcome the darkness in your heart and then you will become one of us...and we will sincerely welcome you into the shadow realm when the time has come..."

The boy spat into his face as an answer, but Dark Link didn't move a muscle at that.

However, the scornful grin dwindled from his face and his eyes sparkled more than before.

"I will _never_ be like you!" Link snapped at him.

Dark Link looked at the Lizalfos and nodded and the lizard-monster slapped Link with his tail, which made the boy moan with pain.

"One day you will be like me. No matter how much you resist. You have no more friends who would catch you if you would fall into darkness and one day you will be all alone and die in the certainty that no one will remember you or your deeds as a hero. Princess Zelda has abandoned you and even your fairy has left you behind..."

"That's a lie!"

"Oh really? Is it? Why then did she leave you in the temple of time?"

Link opened his mouth, but he immediately closed it again, when no answer to this question came to his mind.

Dark Link grinned at him knowingly and laughed softly as he grabbed Link's chin again and forced him to look at him.

"How about if she tells you herself?" he whispered to him and Link's eyes widened as he looked behind the shoulder of the shadow and as he saw a small blue fairy that approached him.

"Navi..." he whispered softly, but the joy in his heart didn't last long, as he saw how Navi changed her color from blue to red and sat down on Dark Link's shoulder.

"Stop looking at me like that! It's bad enough that I have to endure your face again after such a long time!"

Every single word hit him worse than any sword blade could have done it and he felt how his heart crumbled more and more.

"W-what? What are you talking about Navi?" the boy whimpered and he felt hot tears in his eyes again.

The fairy rose from Dark Link's shoulder and floated right in front of Link's face now.

"You don't really believe that we were ever friends? I was always only a burden for you! An annoying appendage and you know what? You were the same in my eyes! I hated the Deku Tree when he assigned you to me! I had a great life in the lost woods, but no, then he had to send me to _you_!"

"Why do you say such a terrible thing to me?" the boy sobbed and more and more tears ran down his cheeks.

The fairy was silent and sat back on Dark Link's shoulder and then she broke Link's heart completely with her last words, which she addressed to him:

"Because you have never meant anything to me..."

And then she flew away and disappeared into the darkness and the only thing Link could hear was Dark Link's malicious laughter and the roars of the monsters around him, before he fell into endless seeming darkness...

In reality Tatl slowly began to worry about Link, for he had begun to cry in his sleep and breathed heavily. Words were coming over his lips and his voice sounded so broken, even in his sleep that Tatl felt how her own heart ached at that, though she didn't know this boy for too long.

What had he done, that the gods now punished him with such cruel nightmares?

As more and more tears wetted his face and as he whimpered louder and louder, the fairy decided to intervene and wake him up now, but that was not as easy as she had imagined, because no matter what she did, Link didn't want to wake up. She flew hard against his cheek, but that didn't bother him. She pulled painfully on his ears or his hair, but even that didn't want to wake him up, so she flew to his ear and shouted "LINK! WAKE UP!" and the boy finally awoke from his nightmare.

He screamed, as he reared up, looking around with panic in his eyes, pressing a hand onto his heart, as if he was afraid it might jump out of his chest.

"Shhh. Calm down Link. You only dreamed. Everything is all right."

It surprised her that she talked so softly to him and her gentle words seemed to be working, too, because Link calmed down a bit, dropped back into the pillows and ran his arm over his forehead to wipe the sweat from his skin, before he turned his eyes to her.

The light glow of the fairy was the only source of light in the room and Link was grateful for it, because he could cling to this light, which gave him a little hold in this difficult time.

This nightmare was the most terrible thing he'd ever seen and Navi's dark words still echoed in his ears, as if she'd really said that to him when she'd left him in the temple of time.

He winced as Tatl sat down on his chest and looked at him questioningly.

He looked back at her, but didn't say a single word and he didn't need to, because Tatl could see how bad he was feeling, could see the fear in his eyes and it was at this moment when she believed him every word, which he had told her after their first meeting.

Yes, in this moment, she believed him his words that he was the hero who had saved a whole kingdom, because only the eyes of a hero reflected as much suffering and pain as his eyes did.

And this sight hurt her as much as the nightmare Link had just been through.

The boy turned slowly to the side, curled up and tears ran down his cheeks as he began to sob softly into his pillow. Tatl watched him silently for a while, and at the same time her heart almost broke when those heartbreaking sounds left the boy's lips. When she looked at him, he reminded her a bit of the skull kid. When she and her brother Tael had found the skull kid back then, it was just as abandoned as Link was, cried as Link just did, but Tatl could look into the heart of the young hero and she didn't see any darkness in his heart, not even now, but goodness and still a spark of hope and it was this moment when something was changing between the two. Without saying a word to him, Tatl flew to him, lay down under his arm and pressed her small body against his chest and shared her warmth with him.

"It'll all be okay Link," she whispered softly, but Link didn't answer her.

He hid his face in his pillow instead and tried to dampen his sobbing and hide his tears from her.

"Don't be ashamed of your tears. There is no reason for that. If you want to cry, then cry. I will not laugh about it and I will not mock you for that. Cry and let the pain inside your heart go..."

A few seconds passed without anything happening, but then Link moved, if only a little bit.

Tatl felt how he pressed her closer to his chest and gently he put both arms around her, holding her tightly to him as if he was afraid she could leave him and never come back.

Tatl let it happen and while she listened to Link's soft sobbing, she was caught in her own thoughts.

When Link was feeling better again, they had to talk, because she couldn't stand another night, where he was plagued by terrible nightmares, because this was not the first time that had happened.

And besides, she wanted to know who this Navi was, about which he spoke almost every night in his sleep...

 **The end**


	8. Let me take care of that (TP)

_Finally I have found some time to write again and I am really happy about this, since the idea for this little one shot was stuck in my head for quite some time now, but I never found the time to write it down. But I did it now and this is what came out: Some fluffy moments between Midna and Link :)._

 _Please enjoy and as always I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very, very much!_

* * *

 **Let me take care of that**

It could have been such a wonderful and peaceful evening, if there weren't the tormented sounds, which had been cutting the air for quite some time.

Said tormented sounds had their origin at Lake Hylia and they came from Link, as he was currently trying to get his boot off of his foot, which was anything but easy for him, because the hero had been badly injured at his foot during his journey.

He and Midna had just finished the Temple of Time when Link had hurt his foot badly.

It had happened when they had been resting in Hyrule Field and when Link had wanted to move his legs a bit and thus he had decided to go out for a little walk. And of course he had to hurt his foot when Midna hadn't been there to warn him that he was heading straight for a trap that was hidden in the grass and of course he had to step into that trap and hurt his foot.

When Midna had heard his painful moans, she had rushed to him immediately and of course she had to lecture him, like he was a little kid instead of a hero and she had told him to be more careful. Link hadn't said anything, since he could concentrate only on this strong pain, which rushed through his leg and up into his brain and when Midna had looked closely, she had seen the blood that was dripping from the underside of the boot.

She had told Link to call his horse Epona, so that they could travel to Lake Hylia.

Of course she could have warped him, but she was scared to make matters even worse would she turn him into a wolf in this state and so they both had decided to travel on Epona's back.

And here they were now…

They had sat down at the edge of the lake, near the water and Midna was watching Link for quite some time now, with a face, darker than the twilight realm. She had offered the boy her help, but Link had declined, had told her that he could take care of this wound all by himself and that he didn't need her help, but the reality looked quite different, for the boy wasn't even able to take his bloody boot off.

After a while Midna could no longer watch the spectacle and she decided to intervene and help the hero; if he wanted it or not!

She scooted closer to him and shoved his hands away, grabbing the boot with her small hands and glaring at him as he wanted to push her hands away.

"Don't be so stubborn and let me help you!" she said with a growl.

Link returned her look quietly, seemed to think about the whole situation and after a few more seconds he gave up with a sigh and let her take care of that, what Midna commented with a small smirk.

"Good boy," she said, ignoring his growls and concentrating back on her work.

Carefully she pulled the boot off of the foot and her heart clenched as she heard him hiss through gritted teeth as the material of the boot brushed over his wounded skin. Apparently he had more than one wound on his foot. No wonder. The trap had looked really bad and she hoped that the monster, that had set up the trap would rot in hell!

In all these months, in which she had traveled through Hyrule with him she had started to like Link and she now saw a good friend in him, maybe even more than just a good friend (but she didn't want to think about this yet) and she couldn't stand it to see him suffer from so much pain.

If she would find this monster that had set up that trap, she would make sure that said monster would suffer badly before she would kill it!

But she didn't want to think about all of this yet, since she had other things to take care of and the most important thing was to take care of Link's wounds now and stop the bleeding and to make sure that the wounds got cleaned and patched up. She couldn't risk it that the boy would get an infection, since the only doctor she knew was living in Castle town and this was too far away from them now.

When the boot was off, she saw the whole extent of his injury and her heart clenched one again at this horrible sight.

There was a pretty long cut right in the center of his foot and more, smaller wounds on his ankles. The big wound on his sole worried her the most, because the wound was still bleeding and she didn't even want to imagine from how much pain Link suffered right now.

"How does it look?" the boy asked her through gritted teeth and he tried to get a look at his wounds, but Midna pushed him down with her magic hair.

"It doesn't look that bad…"

He knew that she was lying to him and that she didn't want to worry him and somehow this thought made him smile slightly. But his smile faded away quickly as the pain was back and a tormented moan left his throat, as Midna rolled up his trousers. He watched her silently, as she turned around, heading straight for the small bag that was attached to his belt.

"What are you doing there?"

"Helping you," was all she said as she was digging around in his bag and when she had found for what she had been looking for, she scooted back down to his leg. She now held a cloth in her hand, dipping it into the water and then she turned her head around again to look at him and there was something in her visible eye, which Link didn't like at all.

"This is going to hurt Link. I will try to be fast."

The boy wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but when he opened his mouth a loud and painful sound left his lips, as Midna started cleaning the deep wound on his sole.

"I am so sorry, but I have to clean it. I don't want to risk it that you get an infection. Please…try to hold still."

That was easier said than done, because it hurt a lot what she was doing there and Link had to gather all of his willpower not to pull his foot away from her as she cleaned his wound and he could tell that she was very thorough…

But fortunately she was true to her words and she hurried up and after a few more moments she pulled the cloth away and Link visibly relaxed when she was done with cleaning his wound.

At least he thought that she was done, but he was wrong with that, because Midna wasn't done yet. She dipped the cloth into the cool water once again, before she led it to Link's foot again. It didn't take long, before the stinging pain was back, but this time it wasn't as strong as before, because this time Midna took care of the small wounds on his ankle. She was very careful not to hurt him any further; Link had to give her that and he relaxed more and more and before he knew it, he was lost in his own thoughts and totally forgot about his wounds or Midna cleaning them for him. His eyes were fixed on the blue sky above him and a soft smile appeared on his face again.

When he thought about all those things he already went through, then he was glad that he had Midna and that he wasn't all alone on his great and dangerous journey through Hyrule. He was grateful that Midna was by his side and kept him company and he could clearly see how much she had changed in the past weeks. Of course she still loved to tease him every now and then, but she wasn't mean to him anymore. She took good care of him when he got injured, she cheered him up when he was sad and she knew how to make him laugh whenever he needed it…

His thoughts got cut off, when he felt how Midna moved the cloth again, this time hitting such a sensitive spot on his foot that a loud and pretty un-manly shriek left his lips and he pulled his foot away from her, faster than the shadow princess could blink.

"What in the name of the gods was _that_?" she asked, as she turned her head around to look at Link, but the boy didn't answer her. He was just sitting there, looking at her from one eye only, since he had the other eye squeezed shut and he was…grinning?

"W-what was what?" he asked, still grinning at her.

"Your weird reaction. Did I hurt you so badly?"

"No, you didn't hurt me at all."

He was still grinning and Midna didn't understand anything anymore.

She narrowed her visible eye and growled slightly at him.

"And why are you making fun of me?" she asked.

"I am not making fun of you Midna."

"Of course you do, or why are you grinning at me like that?"

She could see how his cheeks blushed slightly and he looked away from her.

"You just tickled me, that's all…" he mumbled, but Midna had heard that and now it was her turn to grin as it finally made "click" inside her head.

"Ohhh I see. The great and mighty hero of Hyrule is ticklish?"

A soft chuckle left Link's lips and the redness on his cheeks intensified a bit more.

"Just a little bit," he said and still without looking at Midna.

"Just a little bit you say? Well, that sounded more than just a little bit, am I right?"

To prove her point, she wiggled her fingers over the spot, which she had cleaned before and which was right underneath his toes and of course she made sure not to touch the big wound on his sole. The result was another loud shriek and Link pulled his foot away from her fingers immediately.

"See? That's what I mean," she said, smirking as she watched him and how he couldn't stop giggling anymore.

"Stop teasing me Midna."

"Aww but why? It's fun and apparently it's fun for you too, judging by your reactions. I mean look at you: You're laughing already and I am not even touching you anymore."

"Can we please stop talking about this?"

"Don't tell me that you're embarrassed by that?"

"No…maybe…a bit?"

Midna rolled her eyes, but still smiled.

"Fine, we can stop talking about it, but I still have to clean your foot."

"I can do that by myself."

Link was about to reach his hand out to the cloth Midna was still holding in her hand, but the shadow princess was faster than him and she used her magic hair to pin him down, holding him there.

"No. You need to rest. And besides…"

She smirked and her visible eye glowed with mischief.

"…it's much more fun that way…"

Link's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, it was already too late and it only took a few seconds before his cheerful laughter filled the air, when Midna took care of his foot again and this time she "attacked" his toes. She was, of course, very thoroughly again...a bit too thoroughly for Link's taste and soon he could only lie there and laugh as Midna turned her head to him, looking at him and she soon joined in his laughter, as she saw how he pulled his green cap over his eyes and starting to squirm around as much as Midna's hand allowed it. Apparently he was ashamed of his "weakness," but Midna looked at that differently. It was fun to tease him that way, and besides: she finally got to hear this cute laugh of his again. There was no better sound in this world for her and she would make sure that she would hear it for a long time today. These lovely sounds made her heart beat a little faster, as it got filled with happiness and with malicious joy alike...

Oh yes, if Link's injuries had healed, then she would take full advantage of this newly found "weakness" of the great and powerful Hero of Hyrule.

Whether he liked it or not...

 **The end**


	9. A Special Lesson (SS)

This is my very first Skyward Sword fanficiton, so please don't be too hard to me, should you read this.

I also apologize for my absence, since I have been in hospital (had to get an emergency surgery) and I am back home now, but I still need to recover from my surgery, since I am still not back to my old self yet. I have written this story _before_ I went into the hospital, but never got the chance to read over it again and correct a few things. You should know this: I am not a Skyward Sword fan. I have never beaten the game when I first got it many, many years ago and just one month ago I decided to give this game a second chance. But I don't have changed much of my opinion about this game and it pains me to say this, but it's still my least favorite Zelda game. BUT I don't have negative things to say about this game only, since there ARE some things which I enjoy and which make me want to finish the game. One of these things are the Kikwis. Man I love these super cute looking creatures and that's why I had to write this (pretty random and silly idea) down here.

I hope my english is okay, since I have written this story in english only and without the help of a translator.

And should this be the last Story for this year, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and also a good start into the New Year.

 _Please enjoy it and as always I would appreciate feedback very, very much, thank you._

* * *

 **A special Lesson**

Never would Link have thought that there would be more than Skyloft, in which he was born and in which he lived up to this day.

But due to a terrible incident, in which Zelda had been kidnapped and in which he had become the chosen Hero, who had to save his friend, he had seen that there was more in this world than his home Skyloft. When he had met with Fi and when he had started his journey, he had met with another world. A world, that was so different than the world he knew. A world, in which everything looked different and in which weird looking creatures lived. Some were of a friendly kind, the others…not so much and he had been glad to have this holy sword with him with which he could fight against all the evil in this new world.

A few days had passed since he had come down here.

It had taken some time until he got used to this new world and he still found new things which he didn't understand and which Fi had to explain to him and yes, he was glad that she was by his side; even if she didn't show any emotions towards him. He got used to this eventually and he wished he could get used to this new world too, but he still had problems with this.

Fi had proposed to him to take a small break, before they would go into the Skyview Temple and keep looking for Zelda, since everything seemed to be too much for Link to handle and the young knight had accepted this offer with much joy. He was happy that he could take off his sword and shield and just lay down into the soft grass and do nothing at all. It was still weird for him when he lay down and looked up into the sky. Here he could hardly see the blue sky or the sun, since so many trees where in the way, but he kind of liked this sight. The Faron Woods had become so peaceful after he had slayed all these Bokoblins and Deku Babas. But he had to admit that the last days had been very exhausting. He may had trained much with the sword in Skyloft, but these training session were nothing compared to a real sword fight in which every mistake could mean death. His muscles ached, his arms were weak from carrying his sword and shield and his legs had also become weak and he was just glad to lay down here and relax his muscles. His sword and shield leaned next to him on another tree. He had also taken off his heavy chainmail and his boots, after Fi had made sure that there were no enemies left that could hide in the woods, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and kill him.

He was utterly at peace with himself as he crossed his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of the forest. Here he heard the chirping of a bird, there he heard soft rustling in the undergrowth and here and there he heard some insects or he heard how the wind brushed softly through the leaves. But there was another noise that drew his attention and when he opened his eyes, a soft smile appeared on his face as he saw the Kikwis, which he had found earlier in these woods and who were walking slowly into his direction. Most of them still seemed to be shy around him, but Machi was one of the only Kikwis that were pretty relaxed around him and this Kikwi was walking straight towards him and before Link knew what was happening, the little bird like creature was sitting on his belly and staring down at him.

Link still didn't move a muscle, just smiled up at the cute creature as he watched him and how he made himself even more comfortable on his belly.

"What? Don't tell me you want to play hide and seek with me again?" Link said, smirking this time as he saw the almost begging look in the Kikwis eyes. Apparently he had hit the bullseye with his question.

The Kikwi squeaked, before he clawed his tiny fingers into his green tunic and the begging look in his eyes become stronger, which made Link chuckle.

"Come on Machi. I need to relax a bit. We can play later."

"But I want to play now."

Link had to keep himself from rolling his eyes at that.

These Kikwis had the temper of a six year old for sure…but he somehow found this pretty cute. But even _if_ he had wanted to play, he wasn't even able to get up on his feet and walk one step. His soles burned like fire and his muscles were still pretty weak. He needed a break…a long break.

"I play with you later, I promise, but I need to rest now Machi. I still have a long way in front of me and I don't know what will happen when I reach the Skyview Temple. I need all my strength for this journey."

"Pwease~?"

It was this one "Pwease~?", this special undertone in the Kikwis voice that made Link sigh and that made him give up.

That Kikwi wanted to play with him so bad?

Fine, he would play with it…but in his own way…and he didn't even need to get up for this game…

"Okay, fine. You win. I play with you. But we are not going to play hide and seek. We will do that later as I said."

The Kikwi looked at him skeptically and wanted to say something against this idea, but Link's voice cut him off before he was able to say one word.

"It's a special game. One I have played many times in Skyloft when I have been a child. It's a fun game, you can be sure of that. Lots of laughter involved too…"

Even Fi, who was still hiding in Link's sword, was getting curious when she heard her Master's words. She loved to analyze a lot of things and she also loved to learn new things whenever she got the chance to do so and that's why she hung on Link's lips as much as Machi did right now.

"What kind of game is it?" the Kikwi wanted to know and Link had to grin when he saw how his eyes began to sparkle and he could feel how Machi's small fingers tightened their grip around the fabric of his green tunic; so excited he already was.

"Are you sure you want to know that? Once I've started, there won't be a way back for you…"

The words may sound dark for Machi at first, but he could see it in Link's eyes that he had no bad intentions, because there was this playful sparkle in these blue eyes of his that made his stomach tingle with excitement and he just nodded his head to the question.

"Okay, fine. As you wish. I warned you…"

And before Machi got the chance to ask what Link meant with that, it was already too late.

Link's hands dashed forward and his fingers dug into the Kikwis soft sides and started to wiggle over his silk like fur and before Machi knew what was happening he was reduced to a squeaking, laughing mess already. He squirmed back and forth on top of Link and his small fingers clawed into the young man's sleeves, as he laughed louder and louder.

The other Kikwis, who had dared to step closer to get a better view at the two, looked at each other questioningly and it seemed as if none of them knew what was happening there or why Machi was laughing like a maniac the more Link moved his fingers over his body.

Link on the other hand couldn't keep his own laughter to himself anymore, since Machi's laughter sounded so contagious to him and before he knew it, he was laughing along with him. He sat up and bend his legs up at the same time to make sure the Kikwi couldn't escape or lean away from him, as he grabbed his sides once again and massaged his fingers into his skin, making Machi shriek with laughter.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" the Kikwi begged through his funny sounding laughter and he tried to push Link's hands away and failed miserably at that, since he was way too weak to do anything against this "attack". And when he opened his eyes and saw Link's wide grinning face right in front of him, his laughter increased even more.

Just in this moment, Fi decided to emerge, to be able to get a better look at the whole spectacle and she threw a questioningly look at Link, as he turned his head towards her and smirked.

"Master, what are you doing there?" she asked and even if she acted like a freaking robot since the day he knew her, he could hear the confusion in her voice all too clearly and that made him laugh once again.

"You can tell me almost everything about this new world, can tell me almost everything about our enemies, but you don't know what tickling is? For real?" he asked, laughing.

"No Master, I have never heard of this term before."

"Well, then see this as a lesson now…" he said, before his attention was back on Machi, who was still squirming around in his grip and who still laughed his little heart out.

"What's wrong little one? Can't take it anymore?" he teased, still with this huge grin on his lips, as he pressed his fingers a bit deeper into the soft fur of his victim.

The Kikwi shook his head and Link could already see small tears in his eyes and he decided to slow it down a little, but he didn't stop completely, since he enjoyed this silly moment way too much and he also enjoyed the funny sounds Machi made whenever he attacked his belly with tickling fingers.

"Awww but I don't want to stop. You are sooo cute when you're laughing like that," Link teased and this made the Kikwi laugh even harder, if this was still in the realm of possibility.

"H-Hehehehelp mehehehe!" he pressed through his loud laughter and these two words were addressed to the other Kikwis who stood near them and who looked at each other once again, as if they seem to think about what they should do now.

When the decision was made, they rushed towards Link and before the young knight realized what was happening, it was too late already. Suddenly there were tiny fingers on his right side, mimicking his own movements, that made his whole body wince and he tried to lean away from the soft tickling, trying to suppress the laughter these fingers produced at the same time, but when he leaned to the left side, there were more fingers that pressed into his tunic, tickling his other side as well. More and more fingers joined the party then, until he thought he was feeling them on every tickle spot he had. He felt them on his sides, his ribs, his belly, his knees, even on his feet and under his arms and it wasn't long until he stopped tickling Machi and pressed his arms against his own body. His laughter soon broke out of him like lava breaking out of an exploding volcano and he fell onto his back and when Machi shoved his tiny hands underneath his clothing and when his small fingers dug into his bare belly, it was all over for the young hero. He soon was rolling around in the soft grass and his laughter filled the whole forest as way too many fingers attacked him all at once, tickling him until he had tears streaming down his cheeks and until his green cap flew off of his head, when he shook it from side to side and soon his blond hair stood up in all directions, as if he got hit by a lightning strike. He heard how the Kikwis laughed along with him and oddly these sounds made him laugh even harder and he tried to curl up into a ball, wrapping his arms around his body as he did so, but the moment he protected his upper body, the tickle attack started again, this time focusing on his legs and feet and he had to gather all of his remaining willpower not to kick his legs out in fear he would hurt his new friends while doing so.

It wasn't long until he had rolled himself onto his belly and was still laughing loudly, since the tickle attack was still going on. Some of the Kikwis had jumped onto his back and dug their fingers into his sides and ribs and one of them even tried to worm his fingers under his tightly clamed arms, which made Link laugh like a maniac. He had always been way too ticklish for his own good, especially under his arms and he would try everything in his might not to let this little "monster" go for this tickle spot of his. It had already been bad enough when Groose and his friends had found out about his weakness a few years ago. But even Groose' tickle attack was nothing compared to this. Here he felt more than two hands on his body that tickled him and it didn't matter how much he begged them to stop, the tickling wasn't stopping at all and so he did the only thing that came to his mind now.

He opened one of his blue eyes and looked at Fi, who was still hovering next to him and watched the whole spectacle with curiosity sparkling in her eyes.

"F-Fi! Pleahahahase…AHH! NO!...B-BY THE GOHOHOHODDESS! HEHEHEHLP MEHEHEHE PLEAHAHAHASE!"

He thought his pleading words would make Fi helping him out of this situation, but she just looked at him, still with this questioningly and at the same time curious look in her eyes.

"Is this part of the lesson too, Master?"

And it was in this moment, in which Link knew that this was going to be a long day for him.

Needless to say that his loud laughter filled the Faron Woods for a long time that day…

 **The end**


	10. Please don't stop (BOTW)

_I hope it's not too late to still wish all of you a happy new year ;)._

 _Since a bit more than two weeks I play BOTW and I love this game a lot so far (but please no spoilers, since I am not done with the maine story yet, thank you)_

 _And when we are at the Spoilers: Light Spoiler Warning for this one here ;)._

 _This is not the first BOTW story which I have written, since I already wrote quite a lot of BOTW stories in these past days, but this is the first one which I uploaded here (the other stories are only available in german so far and I have no idea when I will start to translate them)._

 _I am not sorry for this haha. I just needed to write some fluff about these super cute little Koroks. I love them so much._

 _ _And as always: I am sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes.  
Hopefully there won't be too many mistakes in here, since I translated the whole thing from german into english and this was anything but easy to do, especially since you guys have different names for the characters than we have in german and finding the names out was such a pain in the a**. __

_Please enjoy this :3_

* * *

 **Please don't stop**

The Koroks were a fun folk, albeit a bit weird looking, but Link got used to it quickly and even if he thought it was strange, he felt a weird sense of belonging to this forest folk. Even if they looked completely different than him, he didn't get rid of the feeling of being home in these woods whenever he visited these cute little creatures. Even when the Great Deku Tree spoke to him, it felt strangely familiar to him…

Secretly, Link sensed that his soul was linked to these beings and this forest...and that beyond the last hundred years, but he didn't talk to anyone about it, as he himself didn't know what those feelings meant, so he preferred to cover himself in silence whenever the Deku Tree asked him if everything was alright. Link just nodded his head at such questions, reassuring the Forest Guard that everything was okay, and then he preferred to spend some time with the Koroks or settle down on the edge of the lost woods and enjoy the silence around him.

He had many dangerous adventures behind him already, had faced bloodthirsty monsters and he had fought for what was important to him. But the time had come where he was sick of fighting. The time, when not only his body, but also his soul demanded a break and he would take this break now. And he had opted for the Korok Forest, because no dangerous monsters lived in these woods, who wanted to take his life and he could find his peace here. He had decided to stay here for a few days and the Koroks and also the Deku Tree had welcomed him warmly and all of them were happy when he said that he wished to stay here for a few days.

He hadn't been here since he had pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal. The more he enjoyed the time he could spent here in this beautiful forest now. Not only Hestu, but also the rest of the Koroks were happy that he would spent some days in their forest and that's what they all let him know. There was barely a second in which he was not stopped by one of the Koroks and sometimes it seemed to him that some of them were adoring him.

Sometimes it made him feel slightly uncomfortable that they almost treated him like a king, because he really wasn't one and he would never be one. He also didn't feel like a hero. He was just a knight who had the task of saving the princess from evil. That he was the bearer of the holy sword, he tried to forget in those moments, but that wasn't very easy to do. Whenever he saw the sword, the force of his destiny seemed to strike him like a thunderbolt and he felt how the load on his shoulders grow heavier and heavier with each day.

Another reason to put the sword away for a few days and to rest and relax a bit…

And the Koroks cared for him so lovingly that he wanted to stay in those woods forever, but he knew he couldn't do that, that he would soon have to leave the woods behind him and that he had to go back into battle.

For Zelda, for the dead Champions...and for the rest of Hyrule...

But today he banished these thoughts as he took the Master Sword off of his back and put it down next to the lovingly made bed that one of the Koroks had made for him. Link always had to smile softly whenever he saw the bed. It had been made of leaves with so much love that he had almost blushed the first time he had seen it.

And he slept so well in that bed...

Even the food, which was served to him throughout the day, was just wonderful.

It had been a long time since he had eaten so well and so much and yes, he could really get used to this.

After food and drink, he was going after some promises he had given some of the Koroks, because there were many who wanted to see his skills as a swordsman and some of them even asked him if he wanted to face the Korok trials, but Link had rejected that offer, but he had promised that he would make up for it one day. Now he just wanted to rest and put his sword to rest after showing the curious Koroks how well he could handle it. Judging by the words of the Great Deku Tree, it was not the first time he held this sword in his hand...

But now the sword lay in the corner of the small section where his bed stood and Link stretched and yawned heartily. The day was slowly coming to an end. The sun was already setting and dipped the forest in a beautiful light.

But he wouldn't be able to fall asleep so fast today, because the Koroks were too excited that the great Hero of Hyrule was in their forest and stayed here overnight.

As soon as Link lay down on the bed of leaves, the first Korok was already standing next to him, watching him. Link didn't see him at first, because he was standing at the foot end of the bed, but as soon as the young man was lying on the bed, the Korok also jumped onto it and frightened Link so much that a rather un-hero like squeak escaped him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," the little Korok apologized and embarrassed he played with a small branch sticking out of the side of the bed.

Link smiled softly, reaching for the small Korok, picking him up and putting him onto his stomach, before he made himself comfortable on the bed and folding his arms behind his head. He grinned slightly as the Korok got quite nervous and looked at him as if to ask if it was okay for him to be sitting on the hero's stomach. Said hero assured him that he had no problems with that and that he could keep him company as long as he wanted.

The name of the Korok was Pepp and he had been the one who had made the bed of leaves for Link. No wonder he was so nervous around him. This is how Link had come to know Pepp the first time he had entered the Korok Forest.

But gradually the Korok became calmer and less nervous and soon the two talked and Link told him what he had experienced during his adventures.

Pepp looked at him wide-eyed and seemed even more excited than before, when Link told him about the Guardians he'd seen on his long journey through Hyrule. Fortunately, he had always escaped the Guardians without them discovering him, because he didn't want to imagine how a frontal encounter would have ended with a Guardian that was able to walk...or to fly. Probably with his death, but he didn't tell Pepp about that, because he didn't want to scare little Korok any more than he already had. He probably shouldn't have told him about the night of the Bloodmoon...or about the Lynels who roamed Hyrule; always looking for new prey...

Link then tried to lead the conversation to something happier and asked Pepp what they were doing in the forest to pass the time. Some of the Koroks seemed to try their luck with these trials they were talking about earlier and others went into the lost woods to collect mushrooms and other edible plants, which they then offered for sale to travelers. But Pepp was one of the Koroks who avoided the lost woods and preferred to stay in this part of the forest.

"But one day I will have the courage to go into the lost woods and then I will find a Blupee. I want to be as brave as you are Link!"

Link smirked and reached his hand out for Pepp and tickled his stomach.

"I am sure you will, little one," he said, his lips twisting into a small grin as Pepp squealed happily and reached for his finger, but he didn't try too hard to actually push his finger away from his stomach.

Interesting…

But he stopped it after a few moments and pulled his finger back.

But to his surprise, Pepp looked at him expectantly and giggled as he looked straight into his face, scooting a little further forward.

"Why are you stopping?"

Link raised an eyebrow questioningly and looked at Pepp in disbelief.

Did he mean this question seriously or was he kidding him?

"Please don't stop, that was fun!"

Okay...the whole situation just got weird...but somehow funny too.

Pepp looked at him so expectantly that he just couldn't resist it and he reached his finger out to him again.

"What was funny? That?" he asked teasingly, his lips twisting into a small grin again, as he wiggled his forefinger into Pepp's small belly, causing him to squeak and immediately little hands grabbed for his finger. But again, Pepp didn't try to push it away. No. He simply held onto it and laughed with joy. Somehow he was cute when he was laughing and squeaking like that and Link felt a warmth in his heart that he hadn't felt for a very long time. The last time he'd felt it had been when he'd been with Mipha, watching her play with a young Sidon.

That was more than a hundred years ago and Link had almost forgotten about that feeling...

He felt how the hero moved more and more into the background, making room for the child that still lived inside of him and which he had been so many years ago and the louder the little Korok was laughing and squealing, the stronger the warm feeling in his heart became. In the end, he could no longer fight the child in his heart and he let it out of himself. He took his other hand for help, angled his legs at the same time so that Pepp didn't accidentally fall off him while he played with him and soon Link couldn't hold back his smirk anymore, when he tickled Pepp with all his fingers. Of course he made sure not to overdo it, moving his fingers slowly and teasingly over the Korok's body, who didn't want to stop laughing, but not for a second he begged Link to stop. On the contrary, if Link stopped for a moment, Pepp looked at him almost disappointed and he almost begged him to continue, since it seemed to be a lot of fun for him.

Yes, Koroks were indeed weird creatures, but as long as Pepp had fun with this childish game, Link didn't care for how weird this situation was. He himself had a lot of fun too and soon his chuckle turned into cheerful laughter, when he found a spot on Pepp's body that was particularly ticklish and apparently the little Korok couldn't stand it to get tickled there. His laughter was getting shriller and now he was trying to push Link's fingers away from this spot, but Link kept on tickling him there, laughing happily while he did so.

"What? Now you suddenly want me to stop? But earlier you told me to continue? Make up your mind, little one," he said, laughing, but he just got a loud squeak in response.

The loud laughter of the two soon attracted some of the other Koroks and they peered cautiously over to the two and giggled. But no one dared to help Pepp, as no one dared to mess with the Hero of Hyrule.

But they also didn't need to, because Link soon stopped tickling Pepp and pulled his hands away from him, because he decided that it was enough and apparently also the little Korok thought that it was enough, because he looked at him thankfully, but nevertheless he kept on giggling.

"That was so much fun!" he squeaked excitedly and Link just laughed, rolling his eyes playfully at his words, before making himself comfortable again, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said, without looking at Pepp.

His lips twisted into a soft smile as he heard Pepp giggle and then he felt how the Korok moved on his stomach and it felt like he wanted to jump off of him. At least, Link thought so, but Pepp taught him something better, because only seconds later, Link felt little fingers pressing into his blue tunic and into the sensitive skin of his stomach. The young hero opened his eyes and squeaked in surprise, before sitting up and grabbing Pepp with his hands and lifting him from his stomach.

"Hey! Don't do that!"

Pepp just giggled and Link soon heard the other Koroks giggling in amusement as well.

He felt his cheeks burning and mumbled something incomprehensible into his non-existing beard before glaring playfully at Pepp.

"Don't even think about it," he growled at him, but Pepp heard it in his voice that Link wasn't serious.

"Now we know how to wake you up tomorrow morning," Pepp said, giggling, and the other Koroks joined in his giggling and Link was already feeling quite nervous about tomorrow morning.

"I'll wake up early," he said.

"We wake up earlier than you..."

Great…

What had he just started?

Somehow he had the feeling that he would regret this little game he had played with Pepp...

 **The End**

 **(Or maybe...to be continued?)**

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this silly idea of mine. I couldn't help it, I just had to write this down, since the idea for this story was stuck in my head for quite some time now. Maybe the next one will be a serious story...but I can't make any promises though haha. Depends on which story I want to translate next._

I also have some TP and SS stories which I want to tanslate and upload, so please stay tuned.

 _And maybe, just maybe (and if you ask niceley ;P) I might write a second part for this one here as well (only if you have interest though)._

 _Thank you for reading and see you at the next story :)_


	11. When Nightmares fight back (OOT)

_About this story: This story takes place after the events of my little Dark Link Series. It's a tickle story yet again and this story was a wish from a few readers on my dA account once (but in the end not many people cared for this story yet again. That's why I don't accept requests anymore -.-). I have been thinking about it for a long time if I should write this or not, since I couldn't see this happening "for real", but the idea for it didn't let me go. I tried to write it as realistically as possible and this is what came out. It starts dark, but ends super silly. Just a warning for those who don't like this stuff. But I don't think I will write something like this ever again. Like I said: I can't see this happening. This dark character would kill Link without hesitation, would they meet. See this story as an exception and as something funny that might brighten your day and puts a smile onto your face and don't take this story seriously, since it's not serious at all ;)._

 _And now have fun reading it and I hope you will enjoy it.  
_

 _And I also hope that my english is still okay. This story was a pain in the a** to translate, I can tell ya -.-_

 _And again Feedback is much appreciated by me :)  
_

* * *

 **When Nightmares fight back**

"Come on Link, the sun is almost gone and we're still not there."

"Navi, Epona was galloping through Hyrule Field all day long. She should take it easy now. Besides, we're almost there anyways, so relax a bit."

A small grin appeared on Link's face as he looked at his fairy and who had been chasing him through Hyrule Field all day long.

"Or do you get scared when it's getting dark?" he teased her, causing his companion to growl and she didn't fly gently against the side of his head, which only made him laugh.

"I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

"Of course not…"

"Well, at least I'm not afraid of my own shadow," she hurled back at him, which now made him growl and he gave her a dark look.

"Hey! I'm not afraid of my own shadow! And even if I was, I would have a good reason for it, or have you forgotten what happened in the Water Temple and how badly my "shadow" has injured me?"

"Okay, okay Link, soothe yourself. I was just teasing you."

Her voice had become softer and she sat down on his shoulder and stroked his cheek, which made him relax a bit.

"Sorry, Navi, I didn't want to be mean to you. It's just...this subject is still gnawing at me and I wouldn't like to be reminded of what happened in this temple. I just want to forget it, which is not very easy for me, because the scars on my body will always remind me on what happened there. And whenever I close my eyes at night and try to get some sleep, I can see him in my dreams and I have to fight him again or he does something terrible to you and I can only watch helplessly without being able to move and save you."

"Shhh Link. Don't talk about it. These are only dreams and as long as they are only dreams, they can't affect any of us, and moreover..."

He could clearly hear the grin in her next words.

"...I told you that you have to start to control your dreams and I think it's the best if you start with this right now. I can't stand another night where you wake up screaming and tossing around in your bed like you would be possessed by something. You really have to do something about these nightmares."

"I try it Navi, but it's not that easy. When I see him, my fear paralyzes me and I can't move anymore and I have to watch helplessly how he tortures you and then kills you in front of my eyes. Night for night. No matter what I do, I can't get control of my dreams."

"But Link! You can do it. And you have to start with it while you're still awake."

She flew in front of his face to look him straight into his bright blue eyes.

"And I'll help you with that. So. Try to imagine a ridiculous situation with him and you'll remember it over and over again and I can tell you that you'll be dreaming of it tonight. "

Link raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"And you mean that will help me?"

Again the little fairy grinned.

"But with great certainty."

"Hmm well, if you say so, then I will give it a try. I mean what do I have to lose?"

The two reached Kakariko Village as the sun was just beginning to settle and it dived the country into a splendid red. Link jumped off Epona and gently brushed his fingers through her snow-white mane and let her know that she could go back to the Lon Lon Ranch if she wanted to, because he and Navi would stay in Kakariko for a while, because their next destination was the Shadow Temple, which was behind the cemetery of this small village.

Link shuddered when he only heard the words "Shadow Temple" and he didn't want to imagine what horrors would be waiting for him there.

Well, if he thought about it...it probably couldn't get worse than in the Water Temple...

Besides, he had already been to the well under Kakariko, because he had met Sheik again and he had told him where to go next and he had sent him into the depths of this terrible well.

And for what?

For a weird looking lens that didn't help him very much when he was outside the well.

He hoped that this weird thing would be more useful in the Shadow Temple.

But he didn't want to think about all this now, because he had come to Kakariko Village not only because of the Shadow Temple. Oh no. He wouldn't go into the temple until a few days. First of all, he wanted to rest, to regain his strength and, above all, try to catch up some sleep. Sheik had already spoken to the inhabitants of the village and had ensured that Link got a sleeping place, had food and could rest, because although the wounds that he had gotten in the Water Temple were already well cured, he was still weakened, which for the most part was due to his lack of sleep and when he would go to the Shadow Temple, he had to be full of concentration and strength and that he wasn't at the moment.

Everyone knew what he was doing for Hyrule, so everyone, really everyone, had offered him a place to sleep.

But Link had remained modest.

He didn't want to be a burden for anyone and so he had accepted the meal, which the nice young woman, he had helped seven years ago with her cuccos, had offered to him and he had taken a splendid bath in her house, which hadn't only cleaned his body, but also his soul. She had also washed his clothes for him and she had insisted that he spent the night in her house and Link would have liked to accept this offer, but he didn't, because he knew what was happening to him every night and he didn't want to bother anyone else with his sleeping problems. He already felt guilty that he bothered his fairy with it, when he awoke at night, screaming and sweating. He didn't want to bother anybody else and so the young Hylian had decided to sleep in the small hut at the cemetery where Dampé, the grave-digger, had lived.

His house was so or so empty now, since he had passed away a few years ago...

And now he was sitting here, on Dampés old bed and he was about to get ready for the night. He had already taken off his Shield and his Sword and both of them leaned against the wall, not far away from him and he was about to take off the rest of his equipment and get rid of his green tunic as well. It was a warm summer night and he decided to sleep only in his underwear.

He couldn't resist a small grin when he saw how Navi turned away from him as he took off his pants and white undershirt and threw them to his remaining clothes he had hung over the chair, which stood at a small table not far away from him. And when he looked closely, he thought he saw a slight red flicker that enveloped Navi...

"Come on, Navi. It's not like you would see me like that for the first time," he teased, causing the little fairy to grumble and she murmured something unintelligible into her non-existent beard and the red flickering became a little stronger.

"Tell me when you're in bed and covered up."

"But why?"

"Because I don't want my eyes to melt!"

A loud laugh broke away from Link's throat, as he dropped down onto the bed and pulled the blanket up over his hips. Then he folded his arms behind his head and gave his fairy a teasingly grin.

"Just tell me that you find me irresistible."

Navi growled and she flew again his temple once again on this day.

"Don't overdo it!"

A the grin on the young hero's lips widened at these words.

"I would never do that."

She sat down on his chest and then both were silent for a while.

There was absolute silence in the little house and no noise came in from outside.

"In a few days, we'll be heading to the Shadow Temple..." Link murmured quietly and more to himself and the sneaky grin was now gone from him face.

"I am already glad when we have this temple behind us. I can feel it's dark aura even here..."

Link shuddered as Navi said these words and he didn't want to imagine how horrible this temple would be, for he had already heard stories about it. Dark stories and he knew that in this temple people had been brutally tortured and killed.

The stories of this cruel temple had been written with blood...

Perhaps there was something that was even worse than the Water Temple and Link was just about to face this horror...

Link and also Navi were fast asleep this evening, because their journey had been long and exhausting and since Link had been suffering from lack of sleep for days, it was no miracle that he fell asleep very quickly this evening. But as so often, he suffered from nightmares again in this night.

In his dreams, he stood in complete darkness, unable to orient himself and not being able to look through the darkness in which he was standing.

He shuddered, but he also tried to be courageous enough to face this nightmare and fight back this time, no matter what.

He would never be weak again and he would never lose control again.

It were _his_ dreams and he alone had the power to control these dreams!

But all his initial courage dwindled as the darkness settled and when he found himself in a room that he knew all too well.

Water covered the floor of the room, reaching his ankles.

He saw the island with the dead tree on it in front of him and there was only mist around him. In his dreams, there were no doors through which he could have fled. No, in his dreams he was trapped in this room.

He was back.

Back in the Water Temple...

A shiver passed through his body, his heartbeat quickened, sweat gathered on his forehead and his eyes widened as the fear ate itself like a parasite through his body. His left hand automatically reached for his sword, with his right hand he held the shield ready, but deep inside his heart he knew that both would be useless. This was his nightmare and his nightmare never took a good end...

Slowly he approached the dead tree.

His body trembled so violently that he could hardly hold his sword and shield calmly.

Only then did he notice the silence around him and the missing glow of his fairy.

Navi was not by his side.

He was all alone...

"Navi? Navi...where are you?"

It was more a whisper that came over his dry lips and his heart already pounded so hard against his ribs that he feared they would burst at any moment.

A dark laugh rose from the mist, filled the whole room and penetrated his soul.

"It's great that we meet again, oh great Hero of Hyrule..."

The voice was deep, dark, menacing and full of mockery.

A voice that Link had heard far too often now and which tortured him every night.

His gaze turned to the tree again and he winced as he saw the dark figure that was now standing there, waiting for him. He had leaned his back against the tree, had his arms crossed in front of his chest and one leg was bend so that he could support his foot on the tree trunk. His red-glowing eyes turned to Link and his lips twisted into a wide, mocking grin as he saw the hero's fear.

"Welcome back, Hero of Time," he said and Link would have backed away from him, but the fear in him paralyzed his body and he stood there motionless, could only helplessly watch how the dark figure slowly set in motion and approached him.

"Perhaps our fight will be a bit more interesting today than at the last times. You just stood there, paralyzed by your fear and let me torture you. Pretty pathetic, as I think. And as it looks like, it seems this is about to happen again today. It's getting boring by now..."

Link tried everything in his power to calm himself down, tried to slow down his heartbeat and curb the fear in his heart. He closed his eyes briefly, took a deep breath and called himself Navi's words into his memory.

 _Try to draw him into the ridiculous, because only then will you be able to defeat your nightmares._

When he opened his eyes, Dark Link was still standing in front of him and he looked still the same. He hadn't changed the smallest bit, no matter how much Link tried to influence this nightmare and change it. He was too weak to do that...

But he didn't want to give up, wanted to show courage and so he took up attitude and glared at his opponent.

"Just go away and leave me alone!" he snapped, but Dark Link just grinned at the words and continued to walk toward him, slowly drawing his sword as he did so and the sound, when the sword was pulled out of the scabbard, made Link shudder heavily.

"Why should I? It's just too much fun to torment you every night. You think all this is a nightmare, isn't it? But you know as well as I do, that this is not a nightmare. What you can see here only reflects the inside of your soul. I am a part of you Link and I will always be. Only when you die I will disappear. As long as you're alive we two will have some fun, rely on it!"

Oh yeah?

He wanted to have fun?

Link wouldn't make himself to the toy of this maniac again!

No!

Tonight he would change this nightmare and he would fight back!

He still didn't know how to do it, but he would do it.

"Link!"

The familiar voice made him flinch and as he lifted his head and looked up at the dead tree, from where the voice had come from, his face brightened as he could see Navi flying fast into his direction.

She hadn't left him alone...

"Awww how cute~," Dark Link mocked as he watched Link and how he pressed the little fairy gently against his cheek and gently stroked his fingers over her wings.

The Hylian growled at him and anger sparkled in his blue eyes.

"Shut up!"

Oh, his temper seemed to get a hold of him again.

That was a good thing, because it was going to be interesting.

At least for Dark Link.

For Link himself, this nightmare would end like every other nightmare: In endless seeming pain and despair!

At least that's how the plan looked like, but Dark Link felt a change as he watched Link and Navi and how they whispered to each other and when a small grin appeared on Link's face and when he gave him a strange look, Dark Link doubted that this nightmare would be like all the others before, because apparently Link was gaining new hope and new courage and it looked as if the fear would disappear from his heart and make room for something else.

Something which he didn't know and which he didn't understand...

But whatever it was, he wouldn't let Link get the upper hand in this fight, so he didn't hesitate long and moved into his direction. He ran up to Link, his red eyes glowing like fire as a fighting scream left his lips and he raised his sword, ready for an attack that should cut Link's head from his shoulders, but the young Hylian jumped aside and dodged his attack skillfully, waiting for Dark Link to let his guard down and when he did, he gave him a hard kick right into his kidneys that made him scream in pain. He fell to the ground and dropped his sword and shield, which landed a few meters away from him in the water and before he even got the chance to get up again and get his sword and shield back, Link was already over him and pushed him down. The Shadow coughed and gasped, desperately trying to keep his head above the water, growling like a hungry wolf, but Link just laughed at him.

A mocking laugh!

"Gotcha!"

Dark Link could practically _feel_ the grin in the back of his neck and that alone made him growl once again and the fire of anger stirred in his heart!

Oh, how much he hated it to be the subordinate and let this...this _child_ defeat him!

But he would quickly make sure the Link's victory wouldn't last long.

He tightened all his muscles and turned around fast, causing Link to land back first in the water and Dark Link was above him faster than he could blink and he tried to grab his wrists and pin his hands over his head, but Link pulled his hands away from his reach over and over again and the strangest thing about the whole situation was that he didn't stop grinning.

"What's so funny?" his dark counterpart snarled.

"You'll see right away," Link grinned back at him and he seemed to not even care for it that Dark Link had managed to pin his hands above his head now.

"Navi, now!"

Dark Link didn't understand anything at all and he just tilted his head, raising an eyebrow questioningly as these words had left Link's mouth.

He just wanted to ask what that meant, but before he could open his mouth, he already saw Navi, flying towards him and before he could react, she had disappeared in his black tunic and the white shirt underneath.

A huge jerk went through his body and a way too high squeal left his lips as he could feel tiny fingers on his skin. He jerked back, trying to escape those fingers that wiggled over his side, but there was no escape, for the fairy was inside his clothes. He didn't understand what kind of attack that was, didn't understand why he suddenly felt the strong urge to laugh and he didn't understand what the little fairy was doing there. And he was also confused by how strange this felt. It was damn unpleasant and somehow funny at the same time. It was just too much for his nervous system to handle and he squeezed one of his eyes shut, the other stared at Link, who still grinned at him and cheekily waggled his eyebrows at him, as Dark Link's own lips twisted into a grotesque looking grin. His grip around Link's wrists became weaker and his whole body began to tremble as he tried to not flinch away anymore, but the more the little fingers and tender wings brushed over his skin, the more the urge to laugh and to pull his arms against his body grew stronger and stronger, but he held himself back from doing that, because he didn't want to let Link go and giving him the upper hand in this strange fight (if this could be even called a fight).

"W-what the...AH!...H-hey! S-stop thahat! G-get out of th-there...AH! N-o! Whatever you're doing there y-you little M-Monster...STOP IT!"

Link couldn't hold his own giggles back anymore, as the last words of his dark counterpart ended in a loud squeal and even Navi giggled and in the way as Dark Link moved his body to the right side, Link could see that she had found a particular sensitive spot and that made him grin so much, that his cheeks started to hurt after a few more moments.

Didn't Dark Link say that all of this, what he saw here, was just a reflection of his soul?

Well if that was the case, then Dark Link seem to have forgotten about one important thing: Link may be a hero if he had to be, but he was also still a playful, little child in his innermost heart and said playful little child had the upper hand in their little "fight" now...

"Good Navi, go on," Link edged his fairy on, his grin splitting his face in two as he looked at his opponent and saw how he now squeezed both of his eyes shut and how his grin grew wider (against his will in this case). He also felt how the grip around his wrists loosened more and more and as Navi moved to his belly, it was all over. Dark Link started laughing loudly, his hands flew to his stomach, clutching it, but that didn't stop the little fairy from tickling him, because she had flown upwards fast to avoid getting squeezed by his arms and attacked another place now.

And Link himself didn't remain idle.

Since Dark Link was still sitting on his hips, it was easy for him to "attack" him, so he didn't wait any longer and he pressed his fingers into his ribcage and tried to worm them underneath his arms.

And this seemed to be too much for his dark counterpart to handle, because he fell backwards, landing on his back, but Link followed him and soon he was sitting on his hips, still trying to worm his fingers under his arms, while Navi continued looking for the right places that would make him roar with laughter.

And when Link had managed to press his fingers under his opponent's arms, Dark Link's lips opened and his loud laughter soon filled the emptiness of the room. Although his laughter sounded dark, but in a certain way it wasn't even so unlike Link's own laughter. No wonder, since he was more or less his dark counterpart, a kind of clone and the young Hylian was sure his opponent had the same weak spot as he had.

There was only one way to find out...

While Navi continued to tickle mercilessly over every small spot, which he didn't protect with his arms, Link's own hands started traveling over his body as well. He left his right hand under Dark Link's left arm, his left hand tickled its way from his armpit, down to his ribs and then to his side and as he dug into the muscles, the body underneath him jumped and another loud squeal cut the air, which made Link and Navi laugh with pure amusement.

And finally, the hero felt how the fear completely disappeared from his heart and he got more and more courage because at last he seemed to have managed to control this nightmare and turn it into Dark Link's own nightmare.

At least he thought this until his dark counterpart turned the tables, because once Link let his guard down, his opponent took the opportunity and gave him a hard shove against his chest, which made Link fall off of him. With his back, he landed in the water and he tried to get back on his feet quickly, but Dark Link was faster than him. Still laughing, since Navi still tickled him, he managed to sit up and press Link to the ground with one hand. With the other he reached into his clothes and tried to grab Navi and he even caught her after some attempts and when he held her in his hand, he jumped a few feet away from Link.

When he finally stopped laughing, he glared at the hero so darkly that all the courage in Link's heart dwindled and he was seriously worried about Navi now, who was still in his Shadow's grip. He shouldn't forget what a monster his dark counterpart could be if he wanted to...

"What in the name of the gods was _that_?" said monster wanted to know and he held Navi in front of his face and also glared and growled at her darkly. But to his surprise, the little fairy giggled and she didn't seem to be afraid of him and he even thought he could feel her cheeky grin on his body.

"Obviously you are just as ticklish as our hero over there. Interesting."

"Ticklish? What is that?"

"What? You don't know what that is? Are you serious?"

"Would I ask otherwise?"

Again she giggled and she seemed to shine even brighter than before.

"If you let me go, I'll tell you what it is and for what you can use it. And much more than that. Don't worry, I will not tickle you anymore. I promise."

"And how do I know that I can trust you?"

"What is that? Are you afraid of me?" she countered the question amused.

And it were exactly these words that seemed to hit the bulls-eye, because if there was something he hated, then it was that someone thought he would be scared.

He opened his hand and let her free and Navi held her promise.

Link still stood there, a few feet away from them and he couldn't believe what he saw there now.

He saw Navi and how she flew over to his dark clone and sat down on his shoulder and then she whispered something into his ear. What really worried him was the ever-widening grin, which spread across Dark Link's whole face after some time and here and there he looked over to Link, which made him shudder heavily, for who knew what Navi told him there and what these two were planning. Cautiously, he let his eyes wander through the room, looking for his sword and shield, but both were far away from him and he knew he was not fast enough to reach both in time.

Apparently, his lucky streak was already over when it came to gain control over his dreams, because as it looked now, Dark Link took control over it again...

He had to watch helplessly, as the Shadow now slowly approached him, grinning so broadly that Link was already serious worried and he slowly back away from him, but he didn't come far, for soon his back crashed against the dead tree when he had reached the small island and for a short time he let his guard down, as he turned his head to look at the tree.

Big mistake!

As fast as he lay on the ground of the small island, he couldn't even blink.

He felt a weight on his thighs as Dark Link straddled him and then grabbed his hands and pinned them over his head. And as Link then turned his head to him and looked up at him, he shuddered as his eyes met the red glowing eyes of his evil counterpart who smirked at him so evilly that Link could feel goosebumps all over his body. Navi hovered over Dark Link's head, but judging by her giggling, she didn't seem to worry much about the hero, which made Link all the more nervous.

"Navi, please...help me," he pleaded, trying to free his hands from the grip of his opponent, but he couldn't. The grip around his wrists was firm like a damn vice!

His little fairy giggled again and when she sat back on Dark Link's shoulder, the realization hit him like a hammer.

"Oh, you little traitor," he growled and again he squirmed around in the strong grip of his shadowy clone, who laughed mockingly at his pitiful attempts to free himself.

"I'm sorry, but in this case it was you or me and I'm not very keen on letting him tickle me until I cry," Navi said and the amusement was audible in her voice.

"Oh no?! Well then, wait until I get out of here, _then_ we will see who is going to cry with laughter here and be sure about one thing Navi: It won't be me!"

"Great words for someone who can't even free himself from my grip," Dark Link intermingled and his grin was about to split his face in two.

"Oh shut your mouth! You're also going to get it when I manage to get out of here!"

"Hmm maybe… _if_ you can get out of here..."

Dark Link bent his face down to him and a dark, evil chuckle left his lips as he stared directly into Link's bright blue eyes.

"No one will help you now, not even your fairy and you know what, hero? She told me some interesting things about you...well, rather about us and I'm very fascinated by these things, you know? It's a nice change to all the painful screams of the last nights..."

Link shuddered at these dark words and when memories came back to him which he wanted to forget.

The Shadow leaned back and let his eyes wander over his body.

"Hmm, where should I start? The choice seems to be very great, isn't it Navi?"

The fairy giggled at these words and also, as Link gave her an indignant look.

Yes, she would certainly regret her decision to work together with his evil counterpart now, but why not?

That was just too much fun and as long as she wasn't the one who was screaming with laughter, everything was just fine...

She was pulled back into reality when she heard a growl and when she turned her eyes back to the scene, she couldn't help but grinning herself. Link had once again begun to squirm around in the firm grip of his Shadow and he had managed to free a hand and he immediately took advantage of it and he hit Dark Link with it as hard as he could and his dark clone growled as a fist collided with his shoulder.

But the grin was quickly back on his face, when something occurred to him and promptly he grabbed Link's free arm, raised it back over his head and he now held both hands down with only one of his own. His free hand went to Link's belt, which made the Hero growl.

"What the hell are you doing there?!" he growled and everyone could clearly see how uncomfortable this whole situation was for him, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Relax, hero. Nothing bad is going to happen to you... at least not yet..." Dark Link said, smirking and when he finally managed to loosen the belt, he used it to tie Link's hands together. When this was done, he pulled a dagger from behind his back and the hero's eyes became rigid with fear, but Dark Link didn't use this dagger to hurt him. Oh no. He stabbed the dagger through the thick leather belt, right in the middle of Link's wrists and rammed it deeply into the ground, so Link would no longer be able to pull his arms down and that he himself had both of his hands free to use now.

When this was done, Dark Link sat up and cracked his knuckles, giving Link another evil grin, which made him shiver.

Without losing another word and without any warning, he dug his fingers into Link's ribcage, but instead of loud laughter, he only received a painful moan in response and Link squeezed his eyes shut, which surprised him and questioningly he looked at Navi.

"No, no. You're doing it too hard. Be gentler. Like that..."

She brushed her wing gently over Dark Link's neck, which made him twitch and giggle and he quickly protected the side of his neck with one of his hands, which made Navi giggle as well.

"I understand..." he said, his eyes wandering back to the tied up hero again. The next time he dug his fingers into his ribs, he was more cautious, brushing his fingertips only lightly over the fabric of Link's Zora tunic, but he still didn't get the reaction he'd hoped for, because Link just twitched here and there and he bit his lower lip, trying to suppress his laughter as much as possible and at the same time he seemed to impale him with his dark looks, as he had opened his eyes again to look up at him. But he knew that he was about to lose this fight, because if there was something which he couldn't stand at all it was getting tickled and he was sure that Navi, this little treacherous monster, had already told his enemy about all his weak spots.

"Just keep going. He is more stubborn than a donkey when it comes to being tickled. It takes a bit to break his will."

Yes, at this moment Link wanted to do only one thing: Sending Navi to hell!

In fact, it was not long before Link's loud laughter filled the otherwise empty room and he began to wriggle under the surprisingly skillful fingers of the other boy. He flinched and shrieked, laughed and kicked with his legs, but nothing could soften his tormentor's heart. On the contrary, because it seemed as if his reactions would only edge him on to keep going and to experiment with different techniques to see which produced the most laughter. His fingers maltreated his ribs, playing them like an instrument, before they walked down, grabbed his sides and massaged them or he would rhythmically squeeze them to make his whole body jump. Thumbs rubbed over his hip bones, which almost made him jump through the ceiling and when the fingers wiggled underneath his arms, it was all over for him. He gave in to his laughter, even if he wished to sink into the ground now, because this was just embarrassing.

Losing a tickle fight against himself…yep…that was just pathetic…and kind of ridiculous he had to admit…

He arched his back, screeched and almost laughed his soul out of his body, begging for mercy, which was denied to him. And as if this wasn't bad enough, he also had to listen to the laughter of his tormentor and the laughter of his treacherous fairy, who apparently enjoyed the funny sight a bit too much.

Yep, it couldn't get any worse now...

The fact that he was wrong with this thought became apparent to him the moment Dark Link pulled his fingers away from his body, only to push his tunic and his white undershirt up to expose his flat belly.

And Link's eyes widened as he realized what he was up to.

"NO! Not there! P-please!"

A wide grin was the only response he got and shortly thereafter ten fingers dug into his stomach which made him roar with laughter within seconds and Dark Link now had serious difficulties to keep straddling his thighs, because Link tossed around like mad under this torture.

And Navi?

She didn't even think of helping him and she herself couldn't stop laughing anymore.

Even if she felt a bit sorry for Link right now, it was always a wonderful sight to see him laughing like that...even when his laughter was forced.

"B-BY THE GOD'S! STOHOHOHOP THAHAHAHAT!"

Mean laughter was the only response to Link's pleading and those evil fingers dug a little deeper into his belly, causing his muscles to twitch wildly and making him scream with laughter.

He tore so hard at his shackles that the belt finally tore and he managed to free his hands, which he also immediately used to shove his tormentor off of him. At least he tried to do that, but Dark Link was faster than he was and he grabbed his hands and pinned them back above his head. But again, the hero managed to free his left hand and his fingers grabbed the wrist of his tormentor, as the fingers of Dark Link's free hand wiggled under Link's right arm again. He tried to push the hand away, kicking his legs out wildly, arching his back and begging for mercy, but he didn't get any. The hand under his arm continued to wander and fingers were moving over his ribs as if they were the keys of a piano.

"P-PLEASE...AH! N-NO! DOHOHON'T DO THAHAHAT!"

Dark Link grinned and chuckled mischievously as he dug his fingers a bit deeper into his ribcage.

"What's wrong with you Link? I thought you liked music and it's so much fun playing your ribs like a piano; even I have to admit that. After all it produces some interesting sounds..." he teased and he didn't think about stopping and during his words he dug his fingers a little more into his ribs, massaging them and finally finding the perfect rhythm that made Link to almost crawl out of his own skin; So much it tickled.

Half-hearted, he hit his dark clone against his chest, but he couldn't seriously hurt him, because he was just too weak to place a really painful punch and it was not long before Dark Link grabbed his free hand and raised it back over his head and held it there.

The grip around his wrists was as tight as a vise again and as Link opened his eyes, still giggly, he could only watch helplessly as Dark Link smirked and waggled his eyebrows at him.

"Your fairy told me that _this_ works really good on you and since I don't have a free hand right now..."

And shortly thereafter his head rushed down, before a pair of soft lips pressed onto his belly and made him scream as he blew a raspberry against his ticklish skin.

Over and over again!

He laughed so much that even Navi was afraid that his lungs would jump out of his throat any moment and she already saw how tears gathered in the corners of his squeezed shut eyes. His cheeks were as red as a tomato already, his whole body trembled with his hysterical laughter and he arched his back so much that it was painful from just looking at it, but despite all of this, he still tried to fight back and in fact he managed to free his right hand. Immediately his fingers clawed into the hair of his dark counterpart and he pulled on it, which made Dark Link growl, but he didn't stop with his playful torture and Link had no choice but to lie there and to endure it somehow.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to try to control his nightmares if it would end in endless seeming tickle torture…

The whole situation didn't look any better in the real world, because it was again one of those nights in which Navi was certain not to close an eye and get some sleep, because she was sure that Link would keep her awake again that night.

But this night was different from all the nights before, for that night he didn't scream in pain.

No, in that night his soft giggling filled the little hut, in which they both slept...or at least tried to get some sleep...

She was watching him from her seat on the small table for a while now, for when he had started to toss around in his bed, she had awakened from her light sleep and she had quickly flown to the little desk to save herself from his flailing limbs.

Since then, Link could no longer stop giggling in his sleep and he rolled around in his bed from one side to the other and Navi couldn't help but giggle herself as she watched him curling up and wrapping his arms around his stomach.

Whatever he was dreaming in that night, it seemed to be something extremely funny when he cackled in his sleep like a cucco.

If Navi only knew what was really the cause for his nighty giggle fit...

At least he wasn't suffering from pain in that night.

No.

In that night, Link had indeed managed to influence his nightmares and turn them into something else.

But did his nightmares really improve?

Probably only Link himself knew the answer for this question...

 **The End**


	12. The Sacred Beast (TP)

_Yep, I am back and this time I will stay here!_

 _If you people are still around, then Thank you for this and for putting up with me and my sometimes bitchy behavior._  
 _The reason why I have been away for quite a while and why I quit for some time is this: Depression and thus lack of motivation to keep going._  
 _It hit me really hard in the past weeks and sadly the lack of feedback took away all my motivation to keep going as well._  
 _But I wanna change this now and I don't want to be the slave of my emotions any longer!_  
 _I still got some hope left that some day, more people will find these stories of mine and enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them._  
 _And maybe, just maybe these people will share their thoughts with me in the comment section, because feedback still is very much appreciated by me and it really means a lot to me. And by that way: Feedback is the main reason why I keep going, because it motivates me greatly. So please, don't be shy and share your thoughts with me. I am not going to bite you ;)_

 _That aside, I am happy to be back and like I said: I will stay back this time._  
 _Should I deal with another depression phase, I will just take a small break until I calmed down, so please don't wonder why I might not update any of mmy stories for a while._

 _And now sit back and please enjoy this little Twilight Princess One-Shot, which I have written a few months ago^^._

* * *

 ** _The Sacred Beast_**

He vaguely remembered what had happened.

He remembered how monsters had entered the forest.

Terrible monsters!

They had kidnapped Ilya.

And he couldn't have helped her, because he had been too weak to do that.

He had fainted when something had hit the back of his head.

When he had woken up later, there had been silence around him.

An almost eerie silence that had spread over the whole forest...

No animal was heard and the only thing he had heard was his own heartbeat.

After that everything had happened very fast.

He remembered what had happened to Ilya and the children and he immediately had gotten back to his feet to follow the monsters and save the ones he loved, but he hadn't come far, because he remembered a black wall in front of him, with strange looking signs on it that had blocked his way. And then there was this huge hand that had grabbed him and which had pulled him through the wall.

On the other side of the wall, he had faced a monster which had almost killed him, but it had let him go when a bright lightning flash had cut through the darkness.

And now he lay here, on the ground and he tried to get back to his feet, but he couldn't.

Something weakened him and there was this strange feeling in his body that grew stronger and stronger.

It had begun with a tingling sensation on his skin, which had quickly become a huge pain and the back of his right hand had started to burn all of a sudden. His vision became blurry and the pain ate itself through his body like a parasite, until he had the feeling to faint again, but he forced himself to remain conscious this time.

He didn't know what was happening to him, but whatever it was, it frightened him, because the pain became more and more intolerable and he felt as if his skin and muscles were ripping.

And then his body began to change...

A tormented moan escaped his throat when the pain became too much to bear.

His heart was pounding wildly in his chest and he was afraid his ribs would break under this load. He squeezed his eyes shut so tightly that tears rolled over his cheeks and he clenched his jaw so much that his teeth ached. His fingers clawed into the ground beneath him and a tremor went through his body as the pain almost rolled over him like an all-devouring tidal wave.

He could feel how his clothes tore and how his skin loosened from his body, how it tore and how fur grew instead.

His arms and legs changed, became paws with powerful claws on it.

But the worst thing was when his face changed.

He felt how his face was getting longer, how his teeth changed, which became longer and more curved and the pain was so strong now that he opened his mouth and screamed so loud that it had to echo through the whole kingdom.

And then, all of a sudden, it was all over.

The pain vanished as fast as it had come and his vision became black again, as the unconsciousness once again reached its cold hand out to him.

He fell to the ground and didn't move anymore.

But it was no longer a human who lay there on the dead ground of the shadow realm.

No.

Instead of a human there was now a black wolf lying on the cold ground.

His night black fur was interrupted by gray color here and there and in his face he bore unique patterns, which marked him as what he was:

The sacred beast.

But Link didn't know at this moment what he really was and what was going to happen to him soon.

No.

At that moment, he didn't know anything and he would be glad if he would survive all of this, for the shadow creature, that had attacked him earlier, had returned.

Carefully it approached him, careful not to be dazzled once again by this hideous light which had surrounded the boy.

When he noticed that Link was not conscious anymore, he grabbed one of his hind legs and dragged him away, unaware that he was observed for the whole time.

A grin spread across his observer's face.

A devilish grin…

Yes, this wolf was something special.

And Midna would do everything to get this wolf into her fingers and she would use him for her own purposes.

Even if it was the last thing she would do.

When it came to the well-being of the shadow kingdom, she was ready to do everything.

Even if she had to shed innocent blood for her goals...

 ** _The end_**


	13. Yo-Ho Pirates (WW)

_First of all, this is for PokemonTrainer12:  
Thank you so much that you still enjoy my stories :)._  
 _You are literally the one and only person who cares for them. No one else does, not here and not on deviantart either, so thank you a lot for that. But sadly that's also the reason why I don't post much Zelda stories anymore: No one else shows interest in them and that's why I don't translate my stories anymore. I only want to share those Zelda stories, that I have written in english or already translated in english.  
_

 _And I honestly only translated this story, because I have been feeling bored. And it was a pretty short one, compared to the other Zelda stories I have written. Like I said: No one else shows interest in them and that's why I don't translate them and thus I am not much active anymore in the english Zelda community when it comes to Fanfictions. If people never comment and tell me if they like what they read or if they never tell me if they have interest in more or not, then I think they never had interest in my stuff in the first place and this is taking away all my motivation to keep going._

 _But enough of that. I know it won't change anything. Well, their loss, not mine._

 _As for this one-shot: I still haven't finished The Wind Waker, since I have lost my patience with that game *lol*. That stupid map search in the end of that game is driving me nuts. But maybe in the end of the year I will finish that game haha. It's a fun game, but definitely not my favorite and these bad graphics just hurt in my eyes. But I love Tetra and the pirates in general. I have a thing for pirates of any kind haha. That's why I am writing so much about them right now (but it's from another fandom and it's about space pirates, but it's still pirates, right? ;P)._

 _That was just a spontaneous idea, since I so wanted to write something about the Wind Waker and this is what came out._

 _Hope you enjoy it :3_

 _And I also hope there aren't too many mistakes in here, since this was a pain in the a** to translate, ugh._

* * *

 **Yo-ho pirates**

Link would have never thought that he would end up on a pirate ship one day, but it had happened.

Granted, he found it all very exciting in the beginning, but over time that had changed as well.

Tetra's crew was more than strange and Link couldn't help but fear some of them, but he tried not to show it. Which was not so easy, because this pirate crew had a watchful eye on him and watched him at all times. And Link didn't like this. Not at all…

But he could do nothing about it, had to endure it and just play along with them.

 _For Aril..._ he thought again this morning, as he was scrubbing the deck. Tetra gave him one humiliating job after another: scrubbing the decks, maintaining the sails or spending time with one of their crewmembers. The main thing was that they always kept a watchful eye on him. Admittedly, Link liked to spend some time with Niko, because he was the most enduring of all the other pirates. And he taught him some pretty cool tricks which he might need in the course of his adventure.

But the only thing he learned today was how to clean a deck.

Very helpful if he wanted to save his sister...

Link rolled his eyes as he thought about it, but decided not to say his thoughts out loud, as there were too many pirates around him, who were probably already hanging on his lips.

Briefly, the young Hylian stopped his work and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The sun stood high in the cloudless, blue sky and burned mercilessly down on him and he would have preferred to go below deck and enjoy a calm day only for himself, but none of the pirates liked it when he hang around and did nothing, so Tetra had given him this work, so he could make himself useful on the ship.

"When you're aboard my ship, you do what I tell you to do. No disobedience allowed!" she had told him and yes, Link didn't like being bossed around, but she was the captain and he had to obey the captain or he went overboard. That was the pirate way...

Hopefully all this torment and humiliation would be worth it in the end...

Tetra was currently busy with other things.

She was sitting in the captain's quarters, on a small wooden table, racking her brain to decide what to do next. Link wanted to go to the forsaken fortress and Tetra simply didn't understand it. She had often told the boy that it was simply impossible to get into the forsaken fortress without being discovered. No ship even ventured anywhere near this place and every ship, that had already done so, hadn't even got the chance to dock. The canons, that were scattered around the fortress, had already been taken care of them. And even if Link managed to go in there, that would be his certain death. Nobody knew what cruel creatures lived there, but she had seen that the masked bird seemed to live there and this monster had to obey someone and she was sure that this someone was living there as well...

But Link hadn't been deterred by his plan, had remained stubborn and yes, although Tetra would probably regret it, but she had promised him that she would take him to the forsaken fortress. No matter how she would do it. And if she was honest, she secretly wanted to know what was going on in that fortress. And most of all, she wanted to know why this bird had wanted to take her there and besides, she was sure that there were many treasures there and that something would spring out for her crew. As secure as this place was, there had to be fat booty for them. So she couldn't say no to Link's plan. But she also knew about the danger she, Link and the rest of her crew would face there and thus she had to think it through well and make sure none of them would walk into a death trap.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting at her table and studying the map of the forsaken fortress, but she was beginning to realize that her eyelids were getting heavier and that she was getting tired of looking at this map over and over again.

As she looked out the small window, she could see how the sky above the sea slowly turning red. The sun started settling and ended another day at sea. It was time to let the work rest for today, go on deck and enjoy the natural spectacle. Tomorrow was also a day on which she could think of a good plan and maybe tomorrow she would also ask Link for advice.

If she was thinking about him right now...what was he doing right now?

Was he was feeling comfortable being all alone on deck?

There was only one way to find out and Tetra didn't wait long, got up from her chair and left her quarters just a few seconds later.

As she stepped out of the door, Nudge greeted her, who had been standing in front of her quarters and guarding the door all the time. She told him that everything was alright and that he should go on deck and have a nice evening as well, since she would go on deck anyway. And besides, she didn't always need a bodyguard at her side, even if she was grateful that Nudge protected her that way. But she was not a small child anymore and she could take good care of herself and besides: From whom did Nudge want to protect her? From her own crew? It was highly unlikely that any of them dared to even think of a mutiny. They got along well with her and she liked her crew as much as they liked her, so there was really no need to worry. But Nudge remained cautious and only reluctantly moved away from her door with an "Aye, Captain" on his lips, as Tetra walked pass him and towards the stairs that would lead her on deck.

When she stepped outside, she was greeted by a cool, salty evening breeze.

She stopped briefly and let her eyes wander out to the sea.

Yes, out here she felt free and she never wanted to miss this life again.

Here, at sea, she was at home...

Her eyes wandered on, fixing her first mate, Gonzo, who was busy navigating the ship.

And then she saw Link, leaning against the railing all alone, looking out over the wide sea. The cleaning utensils lay neatly folded next to him and Tetra couldn't help but be impressed, because her ship had not looked so clean for a long time. A thought that made her grin, but the grin quickly faded from her face, as she approached the boy and saw the melancholy in his eyes. Lost in his thoughts, he looked out at the sea and didn't even seem to notice Tetra approaching him, until she stood right next to him. Only then did he notice her and he jumped, as she suddenly stood there, next to him and looking at him.

"Are you alright?" she asked him and Link could see honest concern in her eyes, which was new to him, because otherwise she always looked at him with that strange sparkle in her eyes or she looked at him with the sternness of a pirate captain, at which he always shuddered. But not today. No. Today she looked at him differently than usual.

A sigh escaped his throat and his gaze returned to the sea.

"I'm fine, Tetra."

The girl grimaced and there it was again: the stern look in her eyes.

"Stop lying to me, kid. I can see that something is bothering you. So tell me: What is it?"

Again a sigh crept out of his throat and Link seemed to think for a moment whether he wanted to mess with her or not, but in the end he decided not to do it, since he would lose either way.

"I have to think about Aril all the time."

"Your sister?"

"Yes. I hope she is doing well…"

Tetra's gaze softened a bit and her gaze returned to the sea, as she put her arms on the railing.

"We will find your sister. Don't you worry so much about her."

"Easy for you to say."

She turned her head back to him, but he didn't look at her.

"You are not the only one who has lost something in his life, Link. Many on this ship have lost something. And me too…"

The young swordsman shuddered at the sound of her voice, but he dared not ask what she meant by her words, preferring to keep silent.

For how long the two stood there and remained silent, none of them could say, but eventually, Link decided to break the unpleasant silence.

"I really appreciate that you want to help me. But I don't want to put any of you in danger. Give me a boat and I sail to the forsaken fortress alone. I would have a better chance then, because a small boat will be difficult to discover at night."

Next to him, the young woman shook her head at his ignorance.

"Oh boy, I see that you don't understand much about seafaring. The forsaken fortress sees everything and everyone who approaches her. There are huge search lights everywhere that are directed at the sea day and night. They would see you coming, before you even know it, so we have to come up with something different."

She turned to him and looked at him seriously.

"And to be honest: You're either damn stupid to want to go in there all alone, or incredibly brave."

Again she grinned at him.

"Heh, that reminds me of the old times."

"Old times? What do you mean by that, Tetra?"

"Have you never heard the stories of the hero of time? He was only accompanied by a fairy and he saved a whole kingdom all alone. You remind me of him a little when I look at you. The same blue eyes, the same blond hair; even your clothes look like the ones the hero of time should have worn."

Link felt his face heat up as his cheeks turned red.

"I got these clothes from my grandmother. The day you came to our island, I had my birthday and it is our custom that a boy, when he turns twelve, should wear those clothes on the day of his birthday."

Tetra grinned even wider.

"Nice custom. And did I understand this right: My pirates and I spoiled your birthday?"

"To be honest: yes. Why do you ask?"

She giggled and put her arm around his shoulders, pulling him close to her body, causing Link's cheeks to catch fire again.

"How about we make it up to you?"

"How do you mean that?"

"Well, how do I mean that, you doofus? I mean, we're celebrating your birthday, here on this ship. Of course, in a pirate way. Wouldn't that be great for you? I mean, just about every boy wants to be a pirate for at least one time in his whole life."

"Everyone, except for me. I just want to save my sister, that's all."

"Oh, come on, Link, don't be such a spoilsport. Hey guys! Listen everybody!"

Great, now all the attention of the crew was on him and Tetra.

"How about we include Link in our ranks and make a little party for him? I mean, look at him: he's proven that he's brave and seaworthy. Perfect conditions to become one of us. What do you say? Should we make a pirate out of him?"

And gradually, the crew agreed to a cheering and Link would have preferred to sink into the ground.

"Tetra, please...you don't have to do that..."

"No turning back, Link. Besides, some distraction will do you good."

She grabbed his hand and dragged him away.

"First of all, we'll change your clothes, so you look like one of us and after that we throw a party like the sea has never seen it before. And tomorrow we will go back to our plans to get into the forsaken fortress. Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?"

But Link didn't even get a chance to protest, when Tetra pulled him through the door that led to the inside of the ship and a little later the two disappeared.

Oh man, next time he would just keep his mouth shut...

 **The end**


	14. The terrible secret of the Sheikah (OOT)

I am back after such a long time of inactivity in this fandom.

The reason why I am getting active again now is simple: Halloween!

I have written this pretty long one-shot last year, but I have totally missed it to upload it on Halloween.

But this year, I haven't forgotten about it and here it is.

This one-shot is based on a theory, which I have heard in the german Zelda community.

I don't know if this theory is a thing in the english community as well.

The theory is about the well and the shadow temple and Bongo Bongo.

A pretty dark and scary theory; perfect for Halloween.

Of course this one-shot still has a lot of things inside, which are based on my own head-canons. Just saying.

I hope you will enjoy it and I would be so happy, if you would leave me a comment, if you like this story.  
Comments keep my motivatin up to write and upload more of this stuff. So please, don't be shy.

Oh and one more thing: Sheik is a male in here, because he is also a male in OOT. Just saying.

Oh and let's see who can find the little easter egg which I have hidden in here ;).

And now have fun reading and, even if we don't celebrate this here in Germany: HAPPY HALLOWEEN YA'LL! :)

And I am also sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes.  
This has been such a pain in the a** to translate. I can tell ya!  
If anyone is interested in the german version of this, not me!

* * *

 **The terrible secret of the Sheikah**

In the course of her long journey through Hyrule, Navi had often had to see how much Link had to suffer from the burden which he had to carry to bring peace to this kingdom.

Four temples had already been freed from their curses, but Navi could see how much this stressed the hero out. The first temple, which had been hidden deep in the lost woods, hadn't stress him out though. On the contrary, because Link had come out of the temple with a proudly swollen chest, glad to have broken the curse and returned peace to the Kokiri Forest. After that had come the fire temple and that was already a different kind of story, because in this temple lived a beast that Link had to kill, even if he didn't want to. Volvagia, the fire-breathing dragon and which Ganondorf had brought under his control and who had forced him to follow his will and to make this world burst into flames. Link knew this dragon from his childhood, because he had bought him as a dragon baby in Castle town and they had become friends. In the end, Link was forced to fight against his friend and kill him, so that he could break the curse of the fire temple. He had never forgiven Ganondorf for that and Navi still remembered the time after this terrible battle. Link had changed; in a way that scared Navi and even today she could see hatred in Link's eyes when he looked back to the day where he had been forced to kill his friend...

It had taken weeks before Link was again able to continue his dangerous journey and free the next temple from its curse.

The water temple...

Navi still shuddered when she remembered what they had experienced there together and how broken Link had been afterwards. All the monsters that lived in this temple had been nothing compared to the horror that Link had encountered in this one, uncanny room. He had had to fight against a clone of his, had been forced to defeat the darkness that lived within his heart, to continue his dangerous journey and it had been this fight, which had left not only terrible wounds on his body, but also inside his soul. And the inner wounds had been the worst, because they had tortured Link for a very long time afterwards and these wounds had shown themselves in terrible nightmares, from which the young man had to suffer for weeks.

But there was something much more terrible than what he had experienced in the water temple.

Even before Link had entered the shadow temple at all, he had been send back in time and had descended into the well, which stood in Kakariko just before the mill. Sheik had told him he would find there, in the dark depths of this ancient well, which would show him the way through the shadows, but he had found more than just that down there...

Terrible things had lingered on the bottom of the well and he had been glad to leave this dark place as fast as he could.

Kakariok's inhabitants told each other terrible stories about the well and about a man who seemed to have lived there a long time ago. When Link had later traveled back to Kakariko as an adult, the old man, who had lived in Castle Town earlier had told him that the house of this eerie man stood where the well was now, but hardly anyone knew what had happened to this man or why he had demolished his house and above all, Link asked himself: Why had this man had a huge torture chamber in his basement?

For Navi, the bottom of the well had been even more terrible, for down there she had heard the voices of those who had died there in agony.

But if she or Link thought that this was the worst thing in their journey, the shadow temple showed them that it could get indeed much worse.

The shadow temple was a place, crueler than anything Link and Navi could have imagined.

A place, whose history was written with the blood of those who had lost their lives under cruel torment.

Every single room of the Shadow Temple told its own terrible story in the form of torture devices, monsters and other cruel things.

And there had been so much blood. So much blood...

But all this was nothing compared to the gruesome monster that had been waiting for the young hero. Bongo Bongo was his name and, even if his name sounded harmless, the beast that this name belonged to was anything but harmless. It had been a gruesome demon that had been waiting for Link in the depths of the shadow temple.

The hero still remembered this terrible battle much too well.

He had stood on a gigantic drum and this monster had pounded his hands, which had been cut off his arms, onto the drum over and over again as it hung over him, staring at him with that giant red eye, which Link could only see when he had used the lens of truth. The rest of the creature had been hidden in the darkness before his eyes and perhaps that had been better for him.

At night, Link still heard the drumbeats in his nightmares...

The fight had been hard and long and the young man had suffered many wounds and he had been glad to get away with his life at all.

When the curse of the temple was broken and when Link had gotten the Shadow Medallion from Impa, he had departed as far as possible from Kakariko. He couldn't bear it to stay in this place any longer. Not, after all, what he had seen in the shadow temple. Above all, he had seen the sign of the Sheikah everywhere in this temple and he could figure out why this sign had been painted everywhere. It was certain that the Sheikah had previously brought people into this temple and had tortured and killed them in the cruelest way he could imagine, so that no one would dare to enter this temple and keep its story locked away forever.

And Link no longer wanted to stay in a village, built by the Sheikah, so he had traveled back to Lake Hylia; far, far away from Kakariko and its dark history.

And now he was sitting here, completely exhausted from his long journey and his body was trembling slightly when the cold of the night crept underneath his clothes.

He had made a fire and for hours he stared with an expressionless look in his eyes into the flames. The sun had long since passed and the darkness was enveloping him. The cold of the night crawled under his tunic, made him shiver, but all this didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. Not a word left his lips and not an emotion went through his body. Not even when his fairy Navi tried to start a conversation. He didn't react to her and her attempts to get his attention and slowly the little fairy became concerned about her friend, because she had never seen Link like this before. After the water temple he had already been broken and it had taken a long time for him to be back to his normal self, but this time it was different. When she looked into his eyes, she could see how disturbing the events in the shadow temple had been for him. She wanted to help him, wanted to distract him, wanted him to feel better, wanted him to forget, but he didn't react to anything and that almost broke her heart.

At the beginning of their journey, Link was still a cheerful, innocent boy who had even had found fun in the long journey through Hyrule. Often she had seen this excited glitter in his eyes when he had discovered something new. But this glitter had long since disappeared and darkness had taken place. Little by little his soul had dived into the darkness and she had often seen this wild sparkle in his eyes, when the rage was boiling up inside his belly.

But this time it was different.

There was no grief to be seen in his eyes, no anger, nothing.

There was only endless emptiness in these otherwise radiant blue eyes to see and that just scared her.

In the end, Navi didn't know what to do and she decided to look for help, but there was not much that she could have done in such a situation, so she did the only thing that could have helped Link in her opinion: She was looking for Sheik, hoping that he could help Link and actually the Sheikah responded to Navi's help call and came to her and Link a little later.

They met a bit off the camp fire, as Navi didn't want to frighten Link and she told the Sheikah what had happened in the past few days and how bad Link was feeling since then.

"Do you think that is a good idea when I go to him now?"

Navi hadn't thought of that, but...Sheik was different.

He had been a good friend in all these months, who had helped Link a lot on his journey. So why would he be afraid of him?

But exactly that happened when Sheik sat down next to the hero and addressed the word to him. Once Link saw the big Sheikah symbol on Sheik's chest, his eyes widened and he crawled backwards and away from him; pure panic sparkling in his eyes as he did so. Only the sight of the symbol was enough to bring back all these terrible memories of the shadow temple.

Sheik tried to stay calm in this situation, but this sight hurt him in his heart. To see Link like that...so scared and broken...that was just terrible.

But he didn't let himself be discouraged, just sat there and watched Link and how he got a hold of the master sword and how he held the blade in front of him. Sheik didn't dare to get closer to him, but he didn't move back from him either. The boy's reactions frightened him, however, and he couldn't even begin to imagine what horrors he'd been through to react like that to his presence. He knew what had happened in Kakariko, knew the stories the people told about the Shadow Temple. The story of this temple was written with a lot of blood and in fact it didn't throw a good light onto the Sheikah, because they had been involved in these cruel acts, but this was a time before Sheik and he had nothing to do with all of this. But Link couldn't know that and so his fear was justified.

"Calm down, Link. It's me. You know me..." Sheik tried to soothe the boy, but he didn't react to his gentle words at all, held the holy blade in front of him and when Sheik looked more closely, he could see how the sword was shaking in the hero's hand.

He was scared.

Scared of him and he had thought he was a good friend for Link, who helped him on his journey. Even if he knew what Link had been through, this sight hurt him in the soul, even if he didn't show that.

He even went a step farther, moved closer to the boy, who then backed away fearfully, clutching the handle of his sword so firmly that his knuckles turned white.

"What is wrong with you, Link? This is Sheik. You know him! Please calm down," Navi said, but he ignored her completely. His blue eyes were focused only on the Sheikah, who was getting closer and closer until he sat right in front of him.

"Don't come closer! I'm warning you!"

Link's voice trembled just as the rest of his body did and his eyes became rigid with fear as Sheik lifted his hand slowly, placing it on the sword blade and pressing it down slowly and carefully.

"I know what you saw in the shadow temple and I know what you think of me now, but I can assure you that I never had anything to do with it. This all happened before I was born, Link. At a time, when neither of us has lived. Don't blame me for the deeds that my ancestors are responsible for."

Link didn't answer and it didn't look as if he would calm down, which made Sheik sigh, but he wouldn't give up. Cautiously, he took the sword out of his hands and put it aside, before he put his hand onto his shoulder, causing Link to wince and he could see how much the boy was fighting against the urge to slap his hand away.

"Calm down," the Sheikah whispered and it actually seemed to work, because he could see how Link calmed down, could see how his body stopped shaking and he could see how the fear slowly faded from his eyes.

When Link realized what he had almost done, his facial expression changed and where fear had just been seen, now reflected the naked horror in his eyes.

"Sh-Sheik? I...I'm so sorry I...I was not master of my senses. Please forgive me."

"Shhh Link. It's okay. Nothing bad happened."

"But...but...I almost hurt you."

"But you didn't. Don't think about it. It's important that you came back to your senses. The rest doesn't matter."

The young man gave Link a gentle smile, which was hidden underneath his mask, but Link could still see it in his eyes and almost embarrassed, he returned the gentle smile. His heartbeat had almost normalized again and much more relaxed than before, he put his sword back into the sword scabbard and put it back to his shield, which stood next to him, leaning against a small rock. However, he avoided eye contact to the Sheikah, because he was still ashamed for what had just happened and he was ashamed that he had almost hurt a good friend, just because he didn't have his feelings under control.

"What are you doing here, Sheik? I thought we'd meet you in the desert?"

A smile flashed over Shiek's lips again and he sat down beside Link, staring into the flames of the crackling fire.

"Your fairy has called me and I've heard her call, because I happened to be nearby."

Link raised his head and looked at the other man questioningly.

"Navi called you?"

"Yes."

The young hero's gaze went to his fairy, who had made herself comfortable on Sheik's shoulder and giggled softly as she saw how Link raised an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"Why are you giving me that look? You needed help and I thought I was trying my luck and look what happened: Sheik managed to calm you down. You didn't want to listen to me and thus I had to look for help."

She rose again into the air and flew against the side of the hero's head, which made the boy grumbling.

"Don't scare me like that ever again!" the fairy growled right into his ear and the former Kokiri noticed that she was serious, but Navi also had to understand him and his reactions, because she had seen how terrible it had been in the shadow temple and what horrors had been waiting for both of them there. He couldn't just forget all of this so quickly and he was sure that he would be suffering from cruel nightmares for a long, very, very long time again.

As if Sheik could read his mind, he turned his head to Link and looked at him and Link shuddered as he looked into those red eyes of the other, but this time he didn't turn his face away from him.

"Do you want to talk about what you saw in the temple?"

Hardly noticeably the hero shook his head and he stared back into the flames.

"It would help you when you talk about it and I can tell you something about the temple and Hyrules dark past. It would explain everything you have seen there and perhaps you understand the reason why this temple was cursed and why there was a creature like Bongo Bongo."

Link seemed to think about the words and some moments passed, in which he thought about what he should do now. When his decision had been made, he turned his head back to the Sheikah and looked at him resolutely.

"Tell me what happened back then. Please…"

Sheik returned his gaze quietly for a few seconds, before he nodded and his red eyes turned back to the flames of the camp fire. He took a small stick and began to poke around in the flames as he searched for the words with which he could start.

"You've certainly heard a lot of stories about us, the Sheikah, and the Shadow Temple, right?"

Link nodded silently.

"Then you will also know that we have always been loyal to the royal family of Hyrule. We have done everything they have told us to do. Really everything; which included the torture of prisoners of war. At the time, when the Great War in Hyrule was in full swing, we had served the royal family out of the shadows. Never should a soul know about the Sheikah and their terrible deeds they have done for the royal house of Hyrule. The soldiers, who had been captured, were taken to the shadow temple, where they were held captive and cruelly tortured, to elicit information from them. Many of them broke after all these tortures and talked after only a few days. Others tried to resist and even managed to do it. These soldiers were useless in the eyes of the king and he ordered the Sheikah to kill them. You've seen the torture chambers, right? Then you can surely imagine how these prisoners were killed."

A brief pause arose and silence enveloped them and no one dared to say a word and Link could see how difficult it was for Sheik to tell him all of this. He was ashamed of his people's past and no one could blame him for that, for who wanted to belong to those people whose name was written with blood?

"When the Great War was finally over, the king decided to seal the shadow temple. For years, peace prevailed and the people began to forget what had happened in this temple at the behest of the king. But there was a man, a Sheikah, who lived in Kakariko and who wanted more. His name isn't known and the Sheikah, who knew his name, are dead already. It was this man who polluted the name of my people. In Kakariko you were surely told the story of the lens of truth and of a man who had his house where the well now stands, right?"

Again, Link nodded and he hung on Sheik's lips when he continued his story.

"Stories tell that this man has created the lens of truth. But he always wanted more. He tortured indiscriminate people in his basement, which he had developed into a torture chamber and somehow this became boring for him as well and he began to kill innocent people and experimented with black magic. His soul was devoured by the darkness that lived deep within his heart and when the Sheikah found out about his terrible deeds, they brought him into the shadow temple and tortured him badly, before killing him and locking his soul up into the deepest depths of the underworld. But the seal broke and the creature could free itself from its prison. The demon, whom you fought in the shadow temple, was this man. His soul was so devoured by darkness that he took this form after his death. You certainly heard him play a song on this big drum. This was the song he has always played when he had killed his victims. It was an execution song. Something that the Sheikah played when they were killing war prisoners in the shadow temple. If you hadn't destroyed this demon and broken the curse of this temple...I don't want to imagine what would have happened. Even if there are not many of us left, my people are deeply linked to your guilt. None of us can reverse what happened back then, but those who are still alive try to do it better. Many have since abandoned the royal family and are fighting only for themselves, but there are still those who are loyal to the royal family. Just like Impa. Now you know the true story of my people. A story about which no one speaks and yet everyone knows. I can even understand it if you now hold a grudge against me Link, but as I told you already: This all happened a long time ago. In a time, when we weren't born yet. I beg you not to direct your grudge against me or the Sheikah who are still alive, because it's the sins of our ancestors and not ours... "

This dark story had to sink in for a moment and Link desperately searched for words, but he didn't find any and thus he stayed silent and Sheik and Navi did the same.

Sheik had never told him much about himself or his ancestors.

Listening to all this now hit Link almost like a hammer blow.

He would never have thought of how dark the Sheikah's past was...or that of the royal family!

Link grew up in the Kokiri Forest, far away from the world and its terrible battles and wars. In his life there had never been such a thing as death or horrible wars and even more terrible torture. All this was still so new to him and it just rolled over him like a tidal wave. Especially when he recalled the images from the shadow temple. He had seen them, the torture chambers and the cruel equipment with which prisoners had been tormented and even killed there. And he had also seen the monsters that still lived there and Link didn't even want to imagine how it would have been for a prisoner who had been thrown into the room where the Dead Hand had lived. That thought made him tremble with fear.

He winced heavily as he felt a hand on his shoulder again and his head turned to Sheik, who looked at him with worry in his red eyes.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"I think so...but it's hard for me to believe all of this."

"For good reason, because there, where you come from, there is not such a thing as war and other terrible things."

Link nodded silently and stared back into the flames.

"Has all of this happened for real?"

"Yes."

"That's awful. Why did the royal family do such a thing?"

"In war, people do many things they later regret, Link."

"Why didn't anyone try to do something about it?"

"You mean to stop the king?"

"Yes."

"The person who would have done this would have been accused as a heretic and, like all other prisoners and traitors would have landed in the torture chamber. In war, you would do everything, just to survive and therefore no one has stood up against the king. These were very dark times for Hyrule. And now the darkness is back and it lies over this kingdom again. But there is no such thing as war. This war creeps quietly and secretly to the people, fills their hearts with hatred and darkness and you are the only light that can break through this darkness and give peace to this kingdom forever."

The young Hylian sighed, pulled his legs up to his body and wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face in them.

"Nobody has asked me if I wanted to do that, Sheik."

"You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"

A small smile appeared on Link's lips, which, however, never reached his eyes as he raised his head again and looked at Sheik.

"No. Not at all, but I do what the gods ask me to do, even if it's not easy. After all you've just told me, I hope...no, I just know that Zelda will do it better. If she becomes the queen, then she will return the peace to this kingdom it deserves."

"And what will _you_ do? Will you go back into the woods or will you stay by her side and fight for her as a knight?"

There was great curiosity sparkling in the eyes of the Sheikah, which Link couldn't explain.

"I don't know, Sheik. Let's see first if I manage to defeat Ganondorf...and if I manage to survive this long journey...Often I have doubted myself and often I was just about to break under all the load."

"But you haven't and do you know why?"

Link shook his head.

"Because you have friends who believe in you. Because you are fighting for someone you believe in and because you too want this world become a peaceful place again. You are the only one who has the courage to face Ganondorf in a fight and make him pay for all the terrible deeds he has done. Once you have done that, your name will be a legend forever. Even though you sometimes don't feel so, but be proud of what you are doing for this kingdom and for the rest of the world. You have helped so many people and made them happy and it makes you happy too, am I right?"

"Yes, it does. A lot."

Again, Sheik gave him a smile, which Link could even see through his mask and that also made him smile.

"It will make you even happier if you manage to ban the darkness from here once and for all."

"Maybe it does, but right now it doesn't make me happy. What I and Navi have seen in this temple...that was just cruel."

"Now it is cruel for you, but remember that you broke the curse of this temple. Soon it will be the past and you will learn to forget such things, even if you now think that this is impossible. The time will come when you will experience so much happiness and love, where it would seem impossible for you to waste your thoughts on such dark memories. When you came out of the water temple, you also believed you would break under your memories, but you are not and so will it be with the shadow temple. Soon it will be your memory and only that. You just have to give it time."

"Sheik is right, Link. Time heals all wounds. Even those who can't be seen with the eye. You have to give it only enough time and don't forget that we will always catch you, if you threaten to fall."

"Such wise words coming from your fairy."

And it was the first time in days when a wide smile appeared on Link's lips.

"I thank both of you. It means very much to me what you have done for me and what you still do for me."

"That's the least we can do for you...Hero of time."

Almost immediately Link blushed deeply when these words reached his ears and he quickly turned his face away from Sheik, but he had already seen enough and he laughed softly and also Navi couldn't resist a small giggle.

"Please don't call me that..."

"But why not? You can be proud of this title."

"It's kind of embarrassing..."

"Hmm if that's the case then we may give you another title. How about Link, the radiant wanderer through times?"

"Or how about Link, the hero of hearts?" Navi said, giggling and even Sheik grinned slightly under his mask.

"Or maybe, Link the living Legend?" he grinned and Navi laughed even louder at that.

"Please stop it you two..." the young Hylian muttered and embarrassed, he tried to hide his flushed face behind his hands.

"Ohhh, just look at him, Sheik. Look how red his face is."

"Don't be silly, Navi. That's just the fire... "

"The fire, but of course Link. I would say that too."

The young man grumbled, but he still hid his face from his two friends.

Navi could hardly believe how fast he had recovered and how fast he was feeling better. An hour ago, he had almost attacked Sheik because he had been so scared of him and he had looked like a soulless puppet, but now the Link was back whom she had come to know and she was infinitely grateful for that.

She and Sheik kept teasing Link for a while, making him laugh and cheer him up more and more and soon the sparkle in his blue eyes was back again and Navi's little heart beat a bit faster at this wonderful sight.

As the moon was already high up in the sky, she realized how tired she actually was and Link seemed to feel the same way, but he seemed to be fighting hard not to close his eyes and fall asleep. Sheik seemed to notice this too and he could probably imagine that Link was scared of the nightmares that would haunt him as soon as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

But he already knew exactly how he could help Link with this problem...

He pulled out his harp and gave Link a wide smile, which reflected in his eyes.

"I'll make sure you sleep well tonight..." was all he said, before the fingers of his free hand began to glide over the strings of his harp and soon a wonderful soothing song filled the air which made Link sleepier and sleepier.

In the end, the Hero of Time lost the fight against his tiredness, gave himself to it completely and he lay down in the soft grass of the meadow, smiled gently as he felt how someone put a blanket over his body and when he opened one of his eyes, he saw Navi and how she snuggled up against his chest.

The gentle sounds of Sheik's harp gently put him and Navi to sleep and followed him to their dreams, which were not made of darkness that night.

No.

That night, Link and Navi slept peacefully and Sheik gave them the most beautiful dreams with his harmonious harp play.

That was the least the Sheikah could do for both of them.

The saviors of Hyrule...

 **The End**


	15. All this power in one mask (MM)

I am still there, I am just not that much active in the Zelda Fandom at the moment, for I am most active in another fandom right now.

But I haven't forgotten about this one-shot collection and now I am back with a new one.

It's another pretty dark one-shot from one of my most favorite Zelda games of all time: Majora's Mask.

It features the moon, the kids and their questions and how Link feels after all those events in Termina and how much they've changed him.

But the next story will be a light-hearted one again. I promise ;).

I hope you'll like this one and again: I am sorry for grammer/spelling mistakes, for I translated this from german into english.  
German version can be found on my german Fanfiction account.

As always I would appreciate feedback in the form of a comment very, very much, thank you.

* * *

 **All this power in one mask**

Silence surrounded him.

Unusual silence…

When had it been so quiet around him the last time?

He couldn't remember it anymore and he didn't even care for it if he was honest.

A long journey lay behind him.

A journey, into which he had just fallen by accident and which had changed his whole life.

Again he had saved a whole country and again he had become a hero.

But this journey had been so different from his last journey, in which he had saved Hyrule.

This time, there had been no princess whom he had to save, there had been no Ganondorf who had been waiting for him at the end of his journey and there had been no Hyrule…

No.

This had been his journey and his alone.

No one of his old friends, not even princess Zelda knew about this journey or what he had done for this country in which he had lived in the past months.

And the more he thought about it, the more all of this felt like a dream to him.

But all of this had happened for real.

It was hard for him to believe all these things that had happened to him in the past weeks.

He had been transformed into a Deku, a Goron, even a Zora and he had saved a whole city.

He surely would never forget that moon ever again and even in his dreams he could see the devilish grinning face of that moon that hunted him in his nightmares and that was about to crush the city, which he had just saved.

His journey through Hyrule had already pulled hard on his sanity, but the journey through Termina had done the rest.

He had thought that he could handle all of this, but deep inside of him he knew that he couldn't handle it. He had seen so much suffering, so much pain and so much death in the course of his journey. Something that had disturbed him really bad was by far the journey through the Ikana Canyon. The things he had seen there and the things he had done there would be hunting him in his nightmares for a long, long time afterwards...

But the most disturbing place had been the moon itself.

He still remembered how this place had looked like.

He had been standing on a huge meadow and there had been only one big tree in front of him and underneath this big tree he had "played" with four kids and all of these four kids had asked him questions.

Questions, that still echoed through his mind; even now, after he had left Termina long behind him…

He now was back in the lost woods and he had stopped his journey for some time to rest a bit. His mare Epona was standing a bit away from him, eating some of the grass the forest offered her.

Link was sitting there, with his back leaned against a tree and he was lost in his own thoughts. Next to him lay a bag, filled with the masks which he had found through his journey through Termina and every mask had its own story to tell.

 _Your true face...What kind of...face is it? I wonder...The face under the mask...Is that...your true face?_

He still could hear these words in his mind whenever he looked at one of the masks in his bag and they still tormented him.

He still couldn't find an answer to that question; no matter how hard he was trying to find one.

Was it really his true face which he had hidden behind so many different masks?

In the beginning of his journey he would have said "yes", but now, many months after that, he wasn't so sure about that anymore. He had changed in these past months and he couldn't say that he had changed to the better. This whole journey had destroyed his sanity, had made him to a shadow of the hero he once had been. Hyrule and Termina may saw a hero in him, but when he looked into a mirror, he saw anything but a hero in his reflection. He saw a broken boy, someone who had lost all of his friends and someone who was desperately looking for this one friend, who had not forgotten him.

 _Your friends...What kind of...people are they? I wonder...Do those people...think of you...as a friend?_

He also couldn't find an answer to this question either.

Those people, which he had called his friends when he had been in Hyrule had surely forgotten about him the moment Zelda had send him back in time to catch up on his childhood.

And those people, which he had met in Termina?

He wasn't so sure if he could call them his friends.

He had saved them, had done what they had asked him to do, but could he really call them his friends?

And would _he_ be a friend in their eyes?

He doubted that…

A small tear was rolling over his cheek as he thought about all of this and he felt how his heart clenched at these thoughts.

Had he ever had real friends?

Zelda had told him that she was his friend, but a true friend would have stopped him if he would have told her that he was about to go into the lost woods without a fairy.

And Navi?

She had left him alone after their journey was finished.

A true friend wouldn't have done that!

They had let him down!

All of them!

Navi, Zelda…even Saria!

And even those people which he had met in Termina he couldn't call his friends either.

Not even Tatl…

Another tear rolled over his cheek and more followed soon.

He was all alone again and he was sure that he would be alone for the rest of his life, doomed to walk around in the lost woods until he would die and no one would ever care for it, if he would die in here…

His eyes went back to his bag and he grabbed the mask, which he had gotten from the fifth kid, that he had met on the moon.

Carefully he brushed his fingertips over the mask and a small smile appeared on his face.

 _You...What makes you...happy? I wonder...What makes you happy...Does it make...others happy, too?_

This time he had an answer for this question.

What made him happy lay here in his hands.

He would never forget about all this power that lived within this mask or the powerful feeling that had rushed through his body when he had worn it during his last fight against Majora. These feelings…he couldn't describe it, but he had loved it!

All this power he had felt in his whole body…it had made him feel like a god!

Would it make others happy too?

He had no idea, but as long as it made _him_ happy, everything would be just fine and this mask made him very happy for sure…

A small grin appeared on his face as he thought about that.

A dark grin…

He raised the mask to his face and he could already feel the great power that radiated from it.

Who needed friends if he had such a mask?

This mask would be his friend…his one and only friend.

His true friend…

 _The right thing...What is it? I wonder...If you do the right thing...Does it really make...everybody...happy?_

What the right thing was?

To wear this mask and be one with the power that lived within it!

Ohhh and what a wonderful feeling it was, as he put on the mask.

The moment it touched his face, the power rushed through his whole body and made him feel like a true god once again!

A god, everyone would respect…and fear!

Was it the right thing to wear this mask?

Definitely!

Would it make everybody happy?

That was a question that could never be answered.

And Link didn't care for the answer anymore.

He only cared for the mask he was wearing right now and the power which he felt.

He could feel how the mask changed his body…and also his soul, made it darker and everything, in which he had believed in before, vanished a bit more with every second.

As he raised his head and looked at Epona from those empty eyes, the horse rose on her hind legs and whinnied in fear, before she ran away.

Link watched her and how she disappeared in the fog, but he didn't care for it.

He wouldn't need this horse anymore.

He would be better off alone.

But then again…he wasn't alone.

Not anymore.

He had this mask.

And this mask would be his new friend now.

A friend, that wouldn't leave him alone.

A friend, that would always be by his side and guiding him with this dark voice inside his head.

A friend, that would lend him his powers.

A friend, that would make him strong.

A friend, that would make a god out of him.

A god, that would teach evil and good alike fear.

A god, that soon would rule over this world, once he had drawn it into darkness…

 **The end**


	16. Laziness and consequences (TP)

_I have been thinking for quite some time if I should upload this or not, for I am still super, super shy whenever I upload stories like these._

 _As a little warning in advance :  
this is a tickle story (but **NOT** a fetish story, because I **DON'T** write and **DON'T** like this stuff!), so if you don't like it, then don't read it._

 _But since I wanna be more open about this (and since I found this super cute),  
and since I have uploaded so much dark stuff recently, I decided to upload this silly story now._  
 _Aaaaaand it is also the start of a trilogy, meaning: Two more chapters will come afterwards ;)._

 _I hope you like it **and as always feedback in the form of a comment is very much appreciated**  
(even if I know that only one person still reads these stories of mine *sighs*._  
 _But I appreciate your support very, very much *you know who you are* THANK YOU! :))_

 **Summary:**  
L _ink and Midna spend the night under the stars in Hyrule field. While Link loves to sleep in, Midna is already wide awake and she decides to wake the hero up...of course in her own way. And she has found out about something interesting and she wants to try this out on Link, in hope it will wake him up..._

* * *

 **Laziness and consequences**

Silence still lay over the land of Hyrule.

The creatures of this world were still in the Land of Dreams.

No noise was heard.

Only silence surrounded her.

But she could see that the night was almost over and that another day started to dawn, because she could see how some of the clouds turned slightly red from the light of the dawning sun.

A sight that made her smile…

Many months had passed and she still couldn't get over it how beautiful the World of Light could be.

She was a creature, born in the darkness.

A creature, that should hate the World of Light with a passion, but she didn't.

In the past months, when she had started her journey with _him_ , she had started to love the beauty of the Light World and she wasn't ashamed to admit this out loud…not anymore…

Her smile grew as she thought about that and her head turned to the side and she looked at the sleeping hero next to her.

Link was still sleeping peacefully right next to the fire he had made before he had gone to sleep.

Midna didn't need much sleep and thus she was awake since a few hours and she had been watching over the hero of Hyrule for the whole time. She loved to watch Link while he was sleeping, since he looked like a small, innocent kid then and she kind of liked that (but that was something she wouldn't admit out loud. After all she had a pride to lose…).

When Link was awake, she always pretended to be the hard shadow creature she was supposed to be, but when the boy was asleep, the tough shadow creature turned into a little softi.

The boy had changed her; had changed her to the better and yes, Midna enjoyed every second she could spend with him now. But even if she had softened, that didn't mean that she had also stopped teasing him. She still was the mischievous shadow creature Link had met months ago and yes, sometimes she was getting extremely onto the hero's nerves, but she couldn't help it.

It was just too much fun to tease him…

She had to chuckle quietly to herself when she thought about that and her eyes wandered back to Link and a small, sneaky grin spread across her face as she thought about something else.

The new day had begun and they had to continue their journey.

They had been on the way to the Arbiter's Grounds, but Link had insisted to take a small break from their long journey and Midna couldn't blame him for that. The first three temples, the encounter with Zant and the fight with the skull kid, before he had gotten the Master sword had robbed him of his strength and the boy deserved a break; even the small shadow princess had to admit this.

And here they were now, in a small forest part that was on the edge of Hyrule field.

Link had been sleeping for the past ten hours and slowly but surely Midna wanted him to wake up, so that they could continue their journey. This sleepyhead could take another break once they would reach the desert or Lake Hylia, since he had insisted to stop by at the lake for another break.

But not even Link's horse, Epona, was awake yet.

The mare was sleeping peacefully a few meters away from them and she didn't look like she would wake up soon.

Great…

Midna rolled her eyes at that and once again she looked at the sleeping hero next to her.

She thought about it for a moment, but then there was this slightly mischievous grin on her lips again when she decided to wake Link up.

Ten hours of sleep had to be enough for him to be able to travel to Lake Hylia.

And thus the little shadow creature scooted closer to the hero, putting her hand gently onto his shoulder and started shaking it a bit.

"Link? Hey, Link. Wake up. We have to go."

No response came and Link didn't even move a muscle and that made the shadow creature roll her eyes again and once again she shook his shoulder; a bit harder this time, but still Link didn't move a muscle.

"You really have a strong sleep, kid…" she muttered to herself and for a third time she shook his shoulder and this time she even got a response for her attempt of waking him up, but instead of waking up, Link murmured in his sleep and turned onto his other side, so that his back was facing Midna now.

That wasn't the reaction the shadow princess had been hoping for.

But she wouldn't give up so fast.

She just smirked and her visible eye started to glow a bit as she moved into the air and hovered above the still sleeping boy.

Link wanted to switch to stubborn?

Fine!

Midna could be stubborn as well!

And besides: She knew ways to wake him up…

She immediately set her "evil plan" into action and set to work.

This time she was aiming for his ear and when she pulled on it, a growl came over his lips and he shook his head and at the same time he used his arm to protect his ear with it, muttering a "Stop that, Midna and let me sleep…"

"You have slept enough. It's time for you to get up, you sleepyhead."

"It's too early, Midna…go away…"

Oh yes, now Link sounded like a stubborn, little kid, instead of the hero he was supposed to be.

A thought, which made the shadow princess roll her eyes.

But the grin was right back on her face.

Link wanted to act like a little kid?

Fine!

Then she would treat him like one.

She had been watching humans for a long time now and she had seen how adult humans treated their kids and she had also seen how many of them woke their kids up and it had always been working.

And Midna was curious if this waking method, which she had seen every so often, would work on Link too.

She didn't know him long enough to know if it was working or not, but she would find this out now.

And Link was already in a perfect position for her little "experiment", since he was still lying on his side and had his arm risen, to be able to protect his ear with it.

"I hope this will be working on you…"

"What should work on me…?" the hero muttered and he sounded as if he was back in the land of dreams already.

"That!" Midna said as she was right behind him and she immediately shoved her hand underneath Link's arm, starting to wiggle her fingers in hope this would be working, digging really hard into his armpit to get through the thick chainmail he was wearing to protect his body from injuries during his fights.

Oh and how it was working!

A loud and pretty unmanly squeal left the hero's lips and his whole body jumped at the sudden tickling feeling underneath his arm and out of pure reflex he clamped his arm down, only trapping Midna's hand underneath. When the tickling sensation didn't stop, he bit down on his lower lip, trying to suppress the laughter that bubbled up inside his belly, but without much success, because a few giggles slipped over his lips anyways as his sneaky friend kept wiggling her fingers in his hollow.

"Wh-what are you d-doing, Midna?"

"To be honest? I have no idea what I am doing here, but whatever it is, it's fun. A lot of fun I have to admit. And apparently it's fun for you as well. After all I can hear you giggling! What's so funny, hero?"

Link didn't know if she was serious or if she was just teasing him.

He couldn't really imagine that Midna had never heard of tickling before, but judging by her surprised voice and her reactions in general this had to be the case.

Oh great, this was getting more and more embarrassing for him!

Getting tickled by someone who had never heard of this before was already bad enough, but getting teased about it was just too much and he could feel how his giggling turned more and more into bright laughter, as his shadowy friend doubled her efforts underneath his arm.

"I-it cahahahalls tihihihickling Midnahahaha. A-and now…s-stohohohop ihihit!"

"Oh, so _that's_ tickling?"

She dug her fingers a bit deeper into his tunic and chainmail to get at the ticklish skin underneath and the boy jumped and squealed again.

"YES!" he squeaked and movement went into his body as he started squirming around underneath his friend's surprisingly skillful fingers.

"And now…STOP IT!"

"But why? You are laughing, aren't you? And after all I have seen, you humans are happy when you laugh. Why do you want me to stop then?"

That was a good question and something Link couldn't describe very well.

But who said that he needed words to show Midna what he meant?

Despite everything, his own lips twisted into a slightly sneaky grin and he quickly turned around so that he was lying on his back and before Midna knew what was happening, Link had already grabbed her, pinning her against his chest and his free hand set to work on her side immediately.

The shadow princess didn't know what hit her and before she knew what was happening, she was already laughing; even if she had no idea why. This situation was anything but funny to her (okay maybe just a little bit funny), but she was forced to laugh anyways. Link's wiggling fingers felt strange on her skin and the sensation they produced felt even stranger and she found herself unable to stop laughing once the hero had started…what was the word?...tickling her. She started to twist and squirm around in his grip, squealed and laughed and kicked her legs out, when Link's hand aimed for her stomach and it wasn't long before she heard the hero laughing along with her.

"There. That's tickling," he said right into her ear and his breath tickled her even more.

"Feels strange, doesn't it?"

Midna could only nod her head, since she got more and more lost in her laughter, since Link didn't stop moving his tickling hand over her belly.

But eventually the hero of Hyrule had to find out that Midna was still much stronger than he would ever be and when it got too much for his shadowy friend, she freed herself from his grip and flew a few meters away from him; still giggling since she still could feel the tickling sensation rushing through her small body.

When she heard Link laughing at her, a growl rose in her own throat and she spun around, manifested her orange hair into a big hand and using it against her friend.

Link didn't even know what hit him, when it was already too late for him, because Midna was on him faster than he could blink. His hands got pinned above his head with her big hand and the little shadow creature straddled his belly, looking into his face with a "I am not amused" look, but if Link looked closely he could see that she wasn't serious and that she was just playing around with him.

After all Midna was just too proud to let go and enjoy herself a bit and thus she had to cover her joy with faked angry reactions like this.

"How dare you doing something like this to me?!" she growled, but Link only smirked at her.

"Doing what? Tickling you?"

"Yes!"

"Well, let me remind you that it was _you_ who started this."

"I just wanted to wake you up and I saw a lot of humans who did this to their kids."

"Oh, so now I am a kid to you?"

Midna smirked.

"Yes, you are. A pretty lazy kid, by that way."

"Oh come on. I deserve a bit of leisure every now and then."

Midna had to admit that Link was right, but she didn't want to say that out loud.

Her attention was back on him the moment the boy tried to wrench his arms free from her iron like grip around his wrists.

"Could you please let go of me now?"

The smirk was right back on Midna's face and to tease him some more, she tightened her grip around his wrists a bit more, which made Link growl.

"No," was all she said.

"Why?"

She leaned her head down to him and the grin on her lips grew wider and became slightly evil.

"Because there is something calls revenge."

Even Link had to grin at this and he gave her a challenging look.

"Oh yes? Is that so? Well, good luck with your revenge, Midna. Since you don't know anything about tickling I am sure it will take you some time to find out how to make me laugh."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, hero. I have watched humans for a long, long time now and I saw many of them tickling each other. And besides…"

She stroked one of her fingers over Link's right armpit, making the boy flinch and giggle in anticipation.

"I already know one tickle spot of yours and I am sure I will find the rest soon enough. Then, when you least expect it...kid…"

"I hope you know that I can turn the tables on you, right? Let's see who is laughing _then_!"

"Maybe this is true, but you know what?"

"What?"

Without a warning, her fingers were back under his arms, tickling him and Link threw his head back in loud, happy laughter, squirming around and tugging on his arms, but he wasn't able to free himself and this thought alone made him laugh even harder, since he knew that he was totally vulnerable and at her mercy now.

"For now it's _you_ who won't be able to stop laughing anytime soon…"

 **To be continued…**


End file.
